City authorities in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have announced a crackdown on same-sex activity in hotels and bars and called on people to report such "abominable" acts to police.File photo: gay Ugandan refugees in Nairobi, Kenya, in June 2020. Members of the LGBT community in East Africa face discrimination that has forced many to flee.
It said in a statement posted on Facebook on Thursday that it had already raided a guest house in Addis Ababa following a tipoff and that its manager had been arrested. Gay sex is illegal for both men and women in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country, and some offences can carry a punishment of up to 15 years in prison.
“Individuals suspected of belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community are being physically attacked in Ethiopia,” it said in a statement issued on Monday, accusing users on social media platform TikTok of fueling the violence.