Anti-gay Ivory Coast attack sends guard to hospital
by Colin Stewart
"Stop
homos" says a sign posted by neighbors of LGBT rights activists in
Ivory Coast. (Photo courtesy of Alternative Cote d'Ivoire)
Anti-gay
attackers today broke into the office of an LGBT rights group in Ivory
Coast, sending a security guard to the hospital and ransacking the
premises.
It
was the fourth such attack this week on Alternative Côte d'Ivoire,
which combats AIDS and advocates for human rights for LGBT people.
Claver Touré, the association's executive director, said:
"At 2:50 p.m. today (Jan. 25), the office of Alternative Côte d'Ivoire was ransacked. Everything that could be taken was removed; the rest was broken."Our security guard was injured and is in critical condition after being taken to the hospital."We called for help from the police station, which is just three minutes from our premises, but the police did not move an inch."
Touré
said that he later received calls of support from the French
ambassador, the Minister of State and the Minister of the Interior.
"As they say, better late than never," he commented.
Touré's
nearby home was attacked by a mob on Jan. 20. Police responded to the
scene and evacuated him and two colleagues to safety.
On Jan. 22, the office was vandalized.
On Jan. 23, a mob of about 20 people surrounded the Alternative CI office, shouted threats and threw rocks.
On
Jan. 24, the human rights advocacy group Front Line Defenders reported
that rumors were circulating that "a more virulent attack" was foreseen
on Jan. 25. That rumor turned out to be true.
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