custody. For example, ... a 19-year-old gay man who was arrested after departing a nightclub in Mbeya ... reported [that] police raped and beat him on the soles of his feet with canes, electric wires, and water pipes. ... Consensual same-sex sexual conduct is illegal on the mainland and on Zanzibar. On the mainland, acts of "gross indecency" between persons of the same sex are punishable by up to five years in prison. The law refers to same-sex sexual conduct as an "unnatural offense" and carries a prison sentence of 30 years to life. The law on Zanzibar establishes a penalty of up to 14 years in prison for men who engage in same-sex sexual conduct and five years for women. The burden of proof in such cases is significant. According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, ... [arrested] LGBT persons [were only] rarely ... [prosecuted. The arrests were] usually ... a pretext for police to collect bribes or coerce sex from vulnerable people. Nonetheless, the [Tanzanian Commission for Human Rights and Good Government's] ... 2011 prison visits revealed that "unnatural offenses" were among the most common reasons for pretrial detention of minors. In the past[,] courts ... charged individuals suspected of same-sex sexual conduct with loitering or prostitution. LGBT persons faced societal discrimination that restricted their access to health care, housing, and employment. This group was also denied health care such as access to information about HIV. There were no known government efforts to combat such discrimination. Universal Periodic Reviews by the United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council in October 2011 at its meeting in Geneva completed a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the human rights situation in Tanzania. At this UPR, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) publicly urged Tanzania to repeal its statutes that criminalize same-sex sexual activities. The UNCT said in paragraph 27 of its report: Homosexuality is considered contrary to cultural norms; same sex sexual relations are criminalized. Group arrests in connection with peaceful assemblies, non-attendance to HIV patients, as well as forcible evictions of persons due to their sexual orientation by local and religious communities have been reported. Moreover, representatives of the groups and other human rights defenders may not be willing to make public statements in favor of tolerance and decriminalization for fear of reprisals. Tanzania refused. Mathias Meinrad Chikawe, the Tanzanian Minister of