Ten men have been arrested on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar for ‘being gay’ days after a high-profile politician created a hit squad to hunt down homosexuals.
The group were detained when police raided a party at Pongwe Beach after authorities received a tip-off from members of the public.
The arrests come days after Paul Makonda, the regional commissioner for Dar es Salaam, said an anti-gay surveillance team would be using social media to hunt people down.
He also encouraged people to hand over names of anyone they suspected of being gay so authorities could investigate.
His comments were subsequently denounced by the Tanzanian government – but homosexuality is still a crime in deeply religious Tanzania and homophobic rhetoric has been on the rise since President John Magufuli was elected in 2015.
Seif Magango, East Africa Deputy Director for human rights group Amnesty International, said: ‘This is a shocking blow following the Tanzanian government’s assurance that no-one would be targeted and arrested because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Source: Daily Mail
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