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Two suspected Gay Men arrested in Kenya

Reports are that the men have been assaulted and a warning issued of door to door hunts for gay men in the area.

Yesterday Kenyan police arrested two men accused of being gay, in Kwale County, Kenya, in an apparent search for four foreigners, who are allegedly involved in the procurement and circulation of pornographic material, apparently in the Diani area. It has been reported that the two men who were arrested on Thursday told police they are a married couple during interrogation. However whether the men are truly a gay coouple cannot be proved, as it is reported the men were tortured during such interrogation. Gay marriage is not legal in Kenya and such an admission highly unlikely unless coerced or through some form of assault. They two men were arrested at Manyatta Tanduri area within Kwale County and booked at Diani police station. They will be charged on Friday at Kwale Law Courts. It is unknown whether they have legal representation. African HRC is attempting to find this out at this point. Kwale County commissioner Evans Achoki and Msambweni area police chief Joseph Omijah confirmed the arrest saying the suspects are assisting in investigations. "The hunt for more suspects is still on,"Achoki said on phone.

The following alert has been issued:

“This is to request all for LGBTI in Diani and Ukunda, to exercise extreme caution and discretion and if possible to move out temporarily as police (possibly with vigilantes) are conducting a house to house search for (perceived) gay people. Two persons have already been detained. So far two people have been assaulted. Kindly warn all your friends in those areas.”

Kwale County is a county in the former Coast Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kwale, although Ukunda is the largest town. The county has a population of 649,931. Kwale is mainly an inland county, but it has coastline south of Mombasa.

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