Police in Ethiopia beg public to snitch on LGBTQ+ people in anti-homosexuality crackdown

Police in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa are saying that they have already raided a guest house after being tipped off by members of the public as part of a larger crackdown on homosexuality. LGBTQ+ folks in the country are living in fear as anti-LGBTQ+ people use TikTok to incite violence and out people. Homosexuality is illegal in the Christian-majority, East African nation and can be punished with up to 15 years in prison.

The Addis Ababa City Peace and Security Administration Bureau said that it’s “taking action against establishments suspected of engaging in homosexual activities in our city” in a Facebook post last Thursday. The establishments, according to the post, include hotels, restaurants, pensioners, and other entertainment facilities “that deviate from the existing culture, tradition lifestyle, and religion of our country.”

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“The Addis Ababa Peace and Security Administration Bureau has stated that homosexual activity is prohibited by the laws in force in Ethiopia and if there is any sympathy towards those who commit and execute this abominable act that is hated by man and God, it will continue to take action in cooperation with the police based on the suggestions received from the community,” the post states.

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The post then says that “action was taken” against the “Ababa Guest House” based on tips from the community.

“Any person who has information and suggestions related to homosexual acts can come to the nearest police station and give information and suggestions,” it says, listing toll-free numbers for people to call.

The announcement comes as LGBTQ+ people in Ethiopia are facing increased violence as a result of a rise in homophobia on social media, specifically on TikTok. Many say the site isn’t taking down posts that are calling for LGBTQ+ people to be whipped, stabbed, and killed.

“TikTok is being used to incite violence,” said Bahiru Shewaye, who cofounded the Ethiopian LGBTQ+ organization House of Guramayle.

A statement released by the organization last week says that the TikTok videos show people who are perceived as LGBTQ+ in Ethiopia and are inciting people to attack them by “killing, burning, beating” them.

“As a result, individuals suspected of belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community are being physically attacked in Ethiopia,” the statement says. “In a dramatic expansion of the threat of violence, there have also been calls to kill, burn, and beat up families of those who are openly LGBTQIA+ and live abroad in order to make their families understand the ‘deep shame’ and ‘wound’ that Ethiopian homophobes in the diaspora feel due to the outspokenness of those openly LGBTQIA+ individuals.”

The statement says that three anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations were held at the beginning of the month in Addis Ababa that were broadcast live on TkTok, “encouraging followers to take matters into their own hands.” The Addis Ababa Tourish Bureau then said on its Facebook page that it “is working to bring attention to hotels and restaurants that are allegedly providing services to LGBTQIA+ persons.”

In another TikTok video, a Christian pastor says that gay people should be stripped naked and publicly whipped.

“Then [gay] people all over the world would say, ‘Oh, these [Ethiopian] people, this is what they do to gays, therefore we will not go to that country,” he said in the August 5 video.

In another video posted on August 2, a person told viewers to stab gay men in the butt.

“It is very terrifying, to be honest,” a nonbinary person who has fled to Kenya told the AP. “I think I will stay here as long as the situation continues in Ethiopia.… It has always been bad, but this time it feels different.”

An LGBTQ+ student also said that he has been outed twice on TikTok and he got beaten in a restaurant by a group of classmates as a result. “I don’t feel safe at school after that, so I stopped going,” he said.

A spokesperson for TikTok said on Friday that the platform has been removing content and banning accounts that violate community guidelines.