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The US Embassy in Tanzania has issued a warning to US citizens and potential travelers following the crackdown on LGBT people in the East African country where homosexuality is criminalized.
In a note posted on its website Saturday, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital, urged citizens to "examine" their social media profiles for any content that might violate local laws. The embassy advised travelers to "suppress or protect images and language that may violate Tanzanian laws relating to homosexual practices and explicit sexual activities".
The notification comes as LGBT people are increasingly at risk in Tanzania, where men found guilty of homosexuality face up to 30 years in prison.
Since he took office in 2015, President John Magufuli has overseen the repression of the rights of sexual minorities. A travel alert from the US Embassy in January 2018 indicated that "members of the LGBTI community have been arrested, targeted, harassed and / or charged with unrelated offenses".
Last week, Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Paul Makonda reportedly announced the creation of a special committee to investigate and punish homosexuals. "If you know gays … let me know," Makonda told reporters, according to CNN.
The Tanzanian Foreign Ministry denied supporting the campaign, saying Makonda's words were "his own opinions," according to Reuters.
Amnesty International has called the Makonda task force "extremely regrettable".
"The government has a duty to protect everyone in Tanzania and to uphold human rights without discrimination," said Joan Nyanyuki, East Africa regional director for East Africa, in a statement. "They must take this obligation seriously and not launch programs or use government services to deprive LGBTI people of their rights."
LGBT rights do not enjoy popular support in Tanzania: a Pew global survey in 2007 found that 95% of Tanzanians said homosexuality should be "rejected", which is the highest rate 45 countries studied.
