Tanzanian police said Wednesday they had arrested 12 men, including two South Africans and a Ugandan, for presumed homosexuality as part of an ongoing crackdown against gays.
The suspects were arrested at a hotel (Peacock) while promoting sexuality. Among them were two South Africans, one Ugandan and nine Tanzanians, this according to Dar es Salam’s head of police, Lazaro Mamboasasa, the East African reports.
He said the 12 were being questioned ahead of being sent before a court, including the hotel manager who was arrested for providing a room.
The country’s laws prohibit homosexuality.
Mambosasa urged citizens to notify authorities if they caught wind of such activities “so we can act in time”, the report said.
Police made 20 arrests — eight men and 12 women — on similar grounds on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago Zanzibar last month.
According to police, those arrests took place in a hotel where the group were undergoing training with an officially-registered international NGO, the Bridge Initiative, which works in AIDS awareness.
Tanzania early this year suspended several health centres specialising in AIDS prevention, alleging they were promoting homosexuality. The move attracted criticism from mostly the United States.
The Dar es Salaam government also vowed to deport foreigners campaigning for gay rights.
Under the Tanzania law, gay male sex is punishable from 30 years to life in prison.
Homosexuality is illegal in 38 of 54 African states and is punishable by death in Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan, this according to Amnesty International.
