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Six LGBT activists were persecuted at the end of last July, by members of the local community in the town of Kamituga, South Kivu province, in DRC.

According to our information, acts of violence, harassment and death threats, have intensified in recent months, against these LGBT activists in this mining town in Mwenga territory.

Local sources inform that community members, customary chiefs and community leaders; accuse these sexual minorities of being in conflict with the “lega” custom, in their practices, which they consider as “satanic and diabolical”.

On July 31, 6 LGBT activists were victims of death threats from unknown people, followed by insults from the inhabitants who, with « shocking » words, threatened to throw stones at them.

The same day around 8 am, while these LGBT activists were at their homes, crowds of people came around the house with whips, chanting threatening songs against them.

These people forced the door before entering, and hit these 6 activists. According to our sources, the victims managed to escape and took refuge with one of them in Kamituga, but did not stay there due to continued threats. They have taken the direction of Lugushwa, where they live in hiding.

“The victims were forced to rent the house where they live together; because having been driven out by their respective families due to their sexual orientation. Now we learn they’re in Lugushwa, «  said a local source.

Read also Bukavu: several cases of attacks reported to the LGBT Centre RSM

However, the Mayor of Kamituga town, Alexandre Bundya M’pila contacted by Laprunellerdc.info, indicates that he is not yet informed of this situation. He promises to give full details once he finds out.

But in reaction, Rainbow Sanraise Mapambazuko (RSM), a local organization which supervises LGBT activists in South Kivu, denounces these persecutions against its members, and pleads for their evacuation in Bukavu in order to guarantee their safety.

According to RSM, this case is not the first violence to be inflicted on its members in Kamituga. Already on January 24, 2020, argues this structure, two LGBT activists based in Kamituga had been kidnapped in unclear circumstances.

One of these activists was found dead 76 days after his kidnapping, 78 kilometers from Kamituga town on the Kamituga-Lugushwa road. And the other is still missing, despite investigations carried out by security services and his LGBT colleagues.

RSM does not exclude the hypothesis of a kidnapping relative to their sexual orientation, and especially because before their kidnapping, according to this organisation, these two LGBT activists carried out awareness-raising activities in the local community, for the change of their perception of sexual minorities.

Bertin Bulonza

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