Uganda News & Reports 2008

by Tony Grew
The former Archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu has joined 120 Christian and Jewish leaders in a call to the government of Uganda to stop homophobia in the country. In a letter to President Yoweri Museveni they demanded an end to "verbal assaults and legal attacks of your government on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) people." Most of the signatories were clergy in the Metropolitan Community Church, the world's largest and oldest Christian denomination with an affirming ministry to LGBT people.

"All religious traditions demand that we care for the neighbour and the oppressed among us and that we uphold the dignity of every person," they wrote. "No one should have to live in fear simply because of who they are. As a moral leader we know that you do not wish to see Uganda citizens suffer unnecessarily, and we are therefore asking you to call an end to the witch hunt against the most vulnerable in your community. We are particularly concerned that members of your government have called for criminal action against people solely because of whom they love and have censored and silenced attempts by LGBT people to speak on their own behalf. These actions only promote fear, profound isolation and invisibility."

Last year Ugandan deputy Attorney General Fred Ruhindi called for the criminal law to be used against lesbians and gays.

Section 140 of Uganda's penal code carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for homosexual conduct, while Section 141 punishes 'attempts' at carnal knowledge with a maximum of seven years of imprisonment.

Section 143 punishes acts of "gross indecency" with up to five years in prison, while a sodomy conviction carries a penalty of 14 years to life imprisonment.

The Rev. Pat Bumgardner, chair of the Global Justice Ministry of Metropolitan Community Churches, said: "I share a deep concern with many faith leaders that this hostility by Uganda's government officials comes in the midst of the HIV and AIDS pandemic that still ravages so much of the African continent. The pandemic will be addressed effectively only in an environment where human rights are promoted and basic freedoms are protected. Stigma and discrimination push people deeper into closets of fear, making prevention and treatment much more difficult."

A poll in August 2007 found that 95% of Ugandans want homosexual acts to remain illegal. Government officials have regularly threatened and harassed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans. In 2005 Uganda became the first country in the world to introduce laws banning same-sex marriage. Last summer an organisation called Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a coalition of four LGBT organisations, launched a campaign called "Let us Live in Peace." At a press conference in Kampala on August 16th, the group condemned discrimination and violence against LGBT people, as well as the life-threatening silence about their sexualities in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes.

In response, Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told the BBC on August 17th that homosexuality was "unnatural." He denied charges of police harassment of LGBT people, but also declared, "We know them, we have details of who they are." In the wake of the SMUG press conference, Pastor Martin Ssempa organised an August 21 rally in Kampala to address what he called "a call for action on behalf of victims of homosexuality." Calling homosexuality "a criminal act against the laws of nature," Ssempa led hundreds of demonstrators demanding government action against LGBT people.

pinknews.co.uk
http://pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-6974.html

27th February 2008

2
African lesbian conference demands equal rights

by PinkNews.co.uk staff writer
Lesbians from across Africa have held a conference in Mozambique to highlight the homophobia and prejudice they face across the continent. Most nations in Africa criminalise same-sex relationships and in some countries gay people can be put to death. The Coalition of African Lesbians conference was attended by more than 100 delegates.

Women from 14 African countries gathered in Namibia's capital Windhoek in August 2004 to develop the Coalition of African Lesbians. Lesbian organisations and a number of individual women from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia are members of the organisation. "Our main goal is that lesbian and homosexuality can no longer be seen as a criminal offence," the group's director and conference spokeswoman Fikile Vilakazi told Reuters. "You should not be arrested and charged for how you use your own body."

The coalition lobbies for political, legal social, sexual, cultural and economic rights of African lesbians by engaging strategically with African and international structures and allies and to eradicate stigma and discrimination against lesbians. South Africa, one of the few countries on the continent where gay men and lesbians are allowed to marry and legally protected from discrimination, has been rocked by several murders of prominent lesbian activists.

Sizakele Sigasa, 34, an activist for HIV/AIDS and LGBT rights, and Salome Masooa, 24, were discovered dead at field in Soweto, Johannesburg, on July 8th. They had both been shot and, it is suspected, raped.

On 22nd July Thokozane Qwabe, 23, was found in a field in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal with multiple head wounds. She was naked and it is thought she was also raped.

ukgaynews.org.uk
http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Feb/2701.htm

February 27, 2008

3
Plight of Gays in Belarus, Iraq and Uganda to be Highlighted at IDAHO 2008 Launch
Government ministers will attend London College of Fashion launch
Minister for Skills David Lammy MP will be addressing the UK IDAHO launch.

London – Government ministers, mayoral candidates, students and academics, national and international LGBT campaigners, a lesbian singer/songwriter, who according to one reviewer performs like “Mary Poppins on acid” are all gearing up for the IDAHO-UK 2008 launch event at the London College of Fashion, which will take place, on the evening of March 13. Students on the Design for Graphic Communication course at the University of Arts, London have designed double sided broadsheet posters to encourage UK campaigners to arrange events for the International Day Against Homophobia on May 17, and the winning posters will be displayed at the event.

Derek Lennard, IDAHO-UK Coordinator, who has chosen the four winning posters, says that they are “very exciting and innovative”.

Appropriately enough, David Lammy, Minister for Skills, and MP for Tottenham, will be handing out the prizes to the students and making a speech at the event. He will be joined by Minister for Equality, Barbara Follett, and Linda Bellos, former leader of Lambeth Council, who works on mainstreaming equality and diversity in the British Army and Metropolitan Police. London Mayoral candidates are also well represented at the event. Neil Young will be reading a message of support for the IDAHO campaign and the event from Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London.

Richard Barnes the Conservative Leader on the London Assembly, Brian Paddick, Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor, and Sian Berry, the Green candidate will also be speaking. Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of IDAHO will explain the priorities of the 2008 campaign, Pastor Kiyimba Brown will describe how he set up an IDAHO Chapter in Uganda, Ali Hilli founder of Iraqi LGBT will highlight the gravity of the situation for LGBT activists in Iraq, and Bill Schiller of the International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network will graphically describe the plight of the LGBT community in Belarus.

Amnesty International will also be represented. Niranjan Kamatlkar, Artistic Director of Wise Thoughts will look at creative ways to address homophobia and transphobia in the UK, and a representative from the East London Out Project will talk on the theme of the IDAHO campaign this year “Lesbian Rights and Sexism”. Finally, Sue Sanders will display the work undertaken by students for Schools Out and LGBT History Month.

There will also be plenty of time for relaxing, mingling and networking in the luxurious setting of the Rootstein Hopkins Space, and a chance to see the student’s work, enjoy the canapés and wine, and undergo the Lorraine Bowen experience. It is hoped that Ms Bowen will perform a song from her new CD, “Vital Organs”.

“We hope this event will be inspiring, thought provoking and enjoyable and inspire campaigners to plan events for IDAHO,” said Mr. Lennard.

The Guardian, Nairobi, Kenya
Reuters

February 19, 2008

4
Gay Africans and Arabs come out online

by Andrew Heavens
Khartoum (Reuters) - When Ali started blogging that he was Sudanese and gay, he did not realize he was joining a band of African and Middle Eastern gays and lesbians who, in the face of hostility and repression, have come out online. But within days the messages started coming in to black-gay-arab.blogspot.com. "Keep up the good work," wrote Dubai-based Weblogger 'Gay by nature'. "Be proud and blog the way you like," wrote Kuwait's gayboyweekly. Close behind came comments, posts and links purporting to be from almost half the countries in the Arab League, including Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain and Morocco.

Ali, who lists his home town as Khartoum but lives in Qatar, had plugged into a small, self-supporting network of people who have launched Web sites about their sexuality, while keeping their full identity secret. Caution is crucial - homosexual acts are illegal in most countries in Africa and the Middle East, with penalties ranging from long-term imprisonment to execution. "The whole idea started as a diary. I wanted to write what's on my mind and mainly about homosexuality," he told Reuters in an e-mail. "To tell you the truth, I didn't expect this much response."

In the current climate, bloggers say they are achieving a lot just by stating their nationality and sexual orientation. "If you haven't heard or seen any gays in Sudan then allow me to tell you 'You Don't live In The Real World then,'" Ali wrote in a message to other Sudanese bloggers. "I'm Sudanese and Proud Gay Also." His feelings were echoed in a mini-manifesto at the start of the blog "Rants and raves of a Kenyan gay man" that stated: "The Kenyan gay man is a myth and you may never meet one in your lifetime. However, I and many others like me do exist; just not openly. This blog was created to allow access to the psyche of me, who represents the thousands of us who are unrepresented."

News and Abuse
That limited form of coming out has earned the bloggers abuse or criticism via their blogs' comment pages or e-mails. "Faggot queen," wrote a commentator called 'blake' on Kenya's 'Rants and raves'. "I will put my loathing for you faggots aside momentarily, due to the suffering caused by the political situation," referring to the country's post-election violence. Some are more measured: "The fact that you are a gay Sudanese and proudly posting about it in itself is just not natural," a reader called 'sudani' posted on Ali's blog. Some of the bloggers use the diary-style format to share the ups and downs of gay life -- the dilemma of whether to come out to friends and relatives, the risks of meeting in known gay bars, or, according to blogger "...and then God created Men!" the joys of the Egyptian resort town Sharm el-Sheikh.

Others have turned their blogs into news outlets, focusing on reports of persecution in their region and beyond. The blog GayUganda reported on the arrests of gay men in Senegal in February. A month earlier, Blackgayarab posted video footage of alleged police harassment in Iraq. Kenya's "Rants and Raves" reported that gay people were targets in the country's election violence, while blogger Gukira focused on claims that boys had been raped during riots. Afriboy organized an auction of his erotic art to raise funds "to help my community in Kenya". There was also widespread debate on the comments made by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last September about homosexuals in his country.

The total number of gay bloggers in the region is still relatively small, say the few Web sites that monitor the scene. "It is the rare soul who is willing to go up against such blind and violent ignorance and advocate for gay rights and respect," said Richard Ammon of GlobalGayz.com which hosts gay stories, news and reports throughout the world.

" There are a number of people from the community who are blogging both from Africa and the diaspora but it is still quite sporadic," said Nigerian blogger Sokari Ekine who keeps a directory of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender blogs on her own Web site Black Looks.

Ways to Meet
The overall coverage may be erratic, but pockets of gay blogging activity are starting to emerge. There are blogs bridging the Arabic-speaking world from Morocco in the west to the United Arab Emirates in the east. There is a self-sustaining circle of gay bloggers in Kenya and Uganda together with a handful of sites put up by gay Nigerians. And then there is South Africa, where the constitutional recognition of gay rights has encouraged many bloggers to come wholly into the open. "I don't preserve my anonymity at all. I am embracing our constitution which gives us the right to freedom of speech ... There is nothing wrong that I am doing," said Matuba Mahlatjie of the blog My Haven.

Beyond the blogging scene, the Internet's chat rooms and community sites have also become one of the safest ways for gay Africans and Arabs to meet, away from the gaze of a hostile society. "That is what I did at first, I mean, I looked around for others until I found others," said Gug, the writer behind the blog GayUganda. "Oh yes, I do love the Internet, and I guess it is a tool that has made us gay Ugandans and Africans get out of our villages and realize that the parish priest's homophobia is not universal opinion. Surprise, surprise!"

(Editing by Andrew Dobbie and Sara Ledwith)

Behind the Mask
http://www.mask.org.za/printpage.php?id=1838

March 25, 2008

5
Integrity uganda challenges mother’s union for neglecting gay issues

by Nthateng Mhlambiso (BTM Senior Reporter)
David Kato of Integrity Uganda, a faith based Christian organisation which attempts to clarify that the bible does not condemn same-sex relationships, challenged the Mother’s Union for failing to engage in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people’s affairs in Uganda. In last month’s letter addressed to the president of the Mother’s Union Debra Sengendo, Kato expressed his dismay towards the union as it seems to neglect LGBTI people regarding families upbringing as its main preaching. He said such preaching in churches disbands families especially the LGBTI families as parents would neglect their LGBTI children.

He also emphasised that if there’s silence within such families there would always be abuse such as rapes on LGBTI children and dismissals “from schools in the name of religion and they are refused a place in the house of the very God who created them.” He added that lack of reception and understanding by the Mother’s Union, and excluding gay issues forced LGBTI children to poverty because they are thrown out of homes, workplaces, schools and churches. He also said that the attitudes towards LGBTI children have been fuelling HIV infections. According to Kato, the ‘extreme’ conditions of poverty, rejection, hunger and hostility lure children into ‘evils’ such as suicide, terrorist tendencies and extreme hooliganism.

“Such a result is contrary to the transformation that Mother’s Union aims to achieve as per their 2001-2010 commitment to a culture of peace and non-violence for all the children of the world.” He said in the letter. He requests that the Mother’s Union addresses the needs of LGBTI children by acknowledging their different sexuality and show them love. When Behind The Mask contacted Sengendo, she said that she had not received the letter. However, Kato said that Sengendo requested Integrity Uganda to first explain what the acronym LGBTI meant and that the organisation had to explain clearly what it wanted the Mothers Union to do for it.

“I asked if she could make an appointment with us and we visit her office for a dialogue which she welcomed, but being too busy she proposed only on a Saturday”, Kato said so also indicating that they still need to meet with the Mothers Union.

pinknews.co.uk
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7789.html

June 2, 2008

6
Gays excluded from HIV work in Uganda

by Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
The head of Uganda's AIDS commission has claimed that gay people are driving up the number of infections in the country, but said they would not be targeted with prevention work. Kihumuro Apuuli claimed a lack of money prevents him from giving any attention or treatment to gay people. Instead soldiers, prostitutes and the transient workforce will be targeted. More than a million of Uganda's 27 million people are already HIV+. "Gays are one of the drivers of HIV in Uganda, but because of meagre resources we cannot direct our programmes at them at this time," Mr Apuuli, chairman of the Uganda AIDS Commission, said today.

Government officials have regularly threatened and harassed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans. In 2005 Uganda became the first country in the world to introduce laws banning same-sex marriage. Section 140 of Uganda's penal code carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for homosexual conduct, while Section 141 punishes 'attempts' at carnal knowledge with a maximum of seven years of imprisonment. Section 143 punishes acts of "gross indecency" with up to five years in prison, while a sodomy conviction carries a penalty of 14 years to life imprisonment.

Last year James Nsaba Buturo, the country's Minister for Ethics and Integrity, said the government is committed to stopping LGBT people "trying to impose a strange, ungodly, unhealthy, unnatural, and immoral way of life on the rest of our society." The leading Muslim cleric in Uganda, Sheikh Ramathan Shaban Mubajje, has come up with a novel solution to deal with gay and lesbians speaking up in the country. He told journalists he had recommended to the country's President at a meeting that all gay people should be sent into exile on an island in Lake Victoria. "If they die there then we shall have no more homosexuals in the country," he added.

There has been rising tension in the country over gay and lesbian rights. Trans people are also targeted by police and regularly subject to abuse and harassment. In August 2007 activists in spoke out about the prejudice LGBT people face in the country. 30 people gave a press conference drawing attention to the state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia they face every day. They called themselves the "homosexual children of God" and demanded that attacks on LGBT people stop.

Three months ago the former Archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu joined 120 Christian and Jewish leaders in a call to the government of Uganda to stop homophobia in the country. In a letter to President Yoweri Museveni they demanded an end to "verbal assaults and legal attacks of your government on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) people."

IGLHRC, New York

June 4, 2008

7
LGBT Activists Arrested at International HIV/AIDS Meeting in Kampala

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) today condemned the arrests of three Ugandan LGBT activists and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

The three -- Onziema Patience, (an FTM transgender, 28), Valentine Kalende (female, age 27) and Auf (male, age 26) -- were arrested yesterday morning by the Uganda Police Force at the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers' Meeting currently taking place in Kampala, Uganda. Along with other LGBT and HIV and AIDS activists, they were peacefully protesting statements made by a Ugandan government official that no funds would be directed toward HIV programs targeting men who have sex with men. SMUG and IGLHRC have fears for the safety of the three activists.

On 2 May, 2008, Kihumuro Apuuli, Director General of the Uganda AIDS Commission, stated that, "gays are one of the drivers of HIV in Uganda, but because of meagre resources we cannot direct our programmes at them at this time." The SMUG activists staged a peaceful protest at the HIV Implementers meeting to protest the Minister's statements and gross neglect on the part of the Ugandan government in responding to a growing HIV epidemic among the country's LGBT community. They were arrested and detained at the Jinja Road Police Station immediately after taking the stage at the meeting, distributing leaflets and holding up small placards demanding attention to HIV vulnerability among LGBT.

"Today I realized how dangerous it is for us LGBTI people to express our constitutional rights," said Frank Mugisha, Co-Chairperson of SMUG. "I am worried about my comrades who are in police custody."

According to a recent report by the University of Nairobi and the Population Council, gay men in neighboring Kenya have a sero prevalence rate of 26%. Twenty-six years since the beginning of the epidemic, Uganda hasn't implemented a single program to prevent transmission of HIV among men who have sex with men in the East African nation.

"The remarks made by the head of the AIDS Commission were very disturbing to members of the LGBT community," said Kasha Jacqueline, Chairperson of Freedom and Roam Uganda, a lesbian organization in Uganda. "If they want us to die, let them ask themselves if they wish themselves the same. Excluding us is just going to make the situation worse."

The HIV Implementer's Meeting is an annual event described as an opportunity for HIV program implementers to share lessons learned and best practices in the scale-up of HIV/AIDS programs. It is co-sponsored by the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), UNAIDS, the World Bank, the Global Fund, UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+). IGLHRC is also requesting that the co-sponsors of the Implementers' Meeting contact the Ugandan Government to demand the release of these activists.

"Gay men and lesbians are not 'drivers of disease'," said Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director of IGLHRC. "Homophobia drives HIV. Silence drives HIV."

In November 2004, the Ugandan government fined a local broadcaster, Radio Simba for airing a program that discussed anti-gay discrimination and the need for HIV/AIDS services for lesbians and gay men. The government claimed that Radio Simba had violated federal law promoting broadcasting that is contrary to "public morality."

New Vision (Kampala)
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806050114.html

4 June 2008

8
Pro-Gay Activists Arrested At Aids Meet

by Arthur Baguma And Patrick Ogwang
Kampala - Gay rights demonstrators beat security and sneaked into the venue of a global HIV/AIDS meeting at the Imperial Royale Hotel yesterday but ended up under Police arrest. A woman and two men beat the security detail and sneaked with placards and a 67-page document soliciting for funding of their activities in Uganda. The activists, now detained at Jinja Road Police Station, were identified as Pepe Juliana Onzema, a freelance journalist, Usaam Mukwaaya and Valantini Katende. Police spokesperson Simeo Nsubuga described them as intruders. "We are looking at a case of criminal trespass against them. They are not delegates and were not invited. They did not have accreditation cards." The suspects, he said, had placards calling on the participants to consider gays in the planning and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

"Gay Ugandans also need HIV prevention", read one placard. Another said: "Since 1983 up to 2008 zero shillings to HIV prevention for gay Ugandans". Anti-gay campaigner Pastor Martin Sempa termed the incident as unfortunate. "These people are illegal. They are in a wrong place and a wrong forum. In Uganda, we don't have a place for such people." Earlier, the demonstrators managed to distribute their document to some of the delegates, drawn from across the globe. In the paper, the gays urged the donors and other funding agencies to help reduce the rate of infection and to alleviate the suffering of anyone infected and affected by AIDS. Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda under the Penal Code and is categorized as an unnatural practice. Ethics minister Dr. Nsaba Buturo has condemned gay activities.

The document said the gays are organised under four organisations namely Freedom and Roam Uganda, Integrity Uganda, Icebreakers Uganda and Spectrum Initiatives Uganda. The meeting opened on Tuesday and drew over 1,700 participants from over 70 countries. President Yoweri Museveni opened the conference. He called for a focus on building capacity for local HIV prevention, treatment and care.

Uganda (full text)

Kaisernetwork.org, Washington, DC
http://allafrica.com/stories/200806040822.html

Jun 04, 2008

8a
Speakers at HIV/AIDS Meeting in Uganda Call for Increased HIV Prevention

Conference delegates on Tuesday at the opening of the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers' Meeting in Kampala, Uganda, called on countries to increase HIV prevention methods in order to fight complacency about the disease, Xinhuanet reports. Some HIV/AIDS experts speaking at the conference said that although countries have started recording lower HIV/AIDS rates, most responses do not pay enough attention to prevention. UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said that although "87% of countries in the world have established clear and ambitious goals for HIV treatment, only about 50% have targets for HIV prevention therapy." He added, "There is no room for complacency. AIDS is not done; the epidemic is not under control. For every two persons who are put on treatment, five are infected" with HIV.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who opened the conference, attributed the complacency about the disease to the provision of antiretroviral treatment, which some people view as a cure for the disease. He said that HIV/AIDS messages should be repackaged, adding that he does not want to give people living with the disease "false security" that antiretroviral drugs are a cure. Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS coordinator who administers the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, added that countries should take HIV prevention as seriously as HIV/AIDS treatment (Xinhuanet, 6/4). This year's conference -- which has the theme "Scaling Up Through Partnerships: Overcoming Obstacles to Implementation" -- aims to share lessons learned in the fight against HIV/AIDS with a focus on increasing prevention, treatment and care. The conference also aims to build local capacity and bolster coordination between partners. Participants will focus on several issues, including human capacity development, connecting people with resources, coordination, integrating services, and the impact of monitoring and evaluation. In addition, the conference will focus on developing future directions for HIV/AIDS programs by focusing on implementation, identifying barriers and integrating best practices (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/3).

Archived webcasts from the meeting will be available online at kaisernetwork.org.

Note: see Reports 6,7,8 on this page to read about SMUG activists' protesting against Uganda neglecting to include gays and MSM for HIV/AIDS prevention education.

9
From: Frank Mugisha
Co-Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)

June 6, 2008

Dear All,

The 3 Ugandan LGBT activists that were arrested at the HIV Implementers' Meeting in Kampala on the 4th of June 2008, have been released on bail this morning. The charges against them have not been dropped.

They have been charged with Criminal Tresspass, under Section 302 of the Uganda Penal Code. All have pleaded "not guilty" and were released on a bail of 500, 000 UGX (310 USD), not in cash. The case was adjourned to the 20th of June 2008.

NOTE: The charges against the 3 activists have not been dropped. Please continue contacting the following people to request them to drop all charges against the activists:

President Yoweri Museveni
*President of the Republic of Uganda *
State House Nakasero
P.O. Box 24594
Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: +256 (0) 414 343 311
Fax: +256 (0) 414 436 102
E-mail: museveni@starcom. co.ug, aak@statehouse. go.ug

Hon. Dr. Edward Kiddu Makubuya
*Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Attorney General*
Parliament Avenue
P.O.Box 7183
Kampala, Uganda
Telephone: +256 (0) 414 230 538
Fax: +256 (0) 414 254 829
E-mail: mojca@africaonline. co.ug

Kale Kaihura
*Inspector General of Police*
Telephone: +256 (0) 712 755 999

radionetherlands.nl
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/5820705/Ugandas-LRA-rebels-preparing-for-war

07 June 2008

10
Uganda's LRA rebels preparing for war

Rebels of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army are reportedly preparing a new offensive. The Sudanese authorities say LRA rebels attacked the village of Nabanga in the south of the country. Around 23 people, including 14 Sudanese soldiers, were killed. Nabanga was the site of peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan government. The conflict between the LRA rebels and the government has lasted for more than 20 years. After protracted peace negotiations, an accord was to be signed in April, but rebel leader Joseph Kony failed to show up. Recently, there have been reports that the LRA is forcibly recruiting new fighters and wants to take up arms again. Uganda has agreed with neighbouring Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo to jointly act against the LRA. However, Ugandan Archbishop John Odama warned that a failure to achieve peace would destabilise the region and reverse the progress made during the peace talks.

paulcanning.blogspot.com
http://paulcanning.blogspot.com/2008/06/another-gay-asylum-seeker-to-be-sent.html

June 8, 2008

10a
Another gay asylum seeker to be sent back to torture or death

The Home Office wants to send another gay asylum seeker back to torture and possible death — and is again claiming that 'discretion' means they can do it. Prossy Kakooza is a 26-year-old lesbian woman who fled Uganda after suffering vicious sexual, physical and verbal attacks due to her sexual orientation. She has an English Literature degree and would like to teach here. Uganda's government is violently anti-gay, newspapers and religious groups are engaged in witch hunts and asylum campaigners have reported that returnees on arrival in Kampala have been immediately taken to a torture centre. While in prison Kakooza was subjected to multiple rapes and branded with red hot meat skewers on her thighs by drunken police officers.

"I’m still receiving counseling at a rape crisis centre," she said. "I have nightmares every night and I don’t think I will ever get over what happened to me." Kakooza also said that she often thinks of her girlfriend, Leah, who remains in prison. "I was lucky I got out. I can’t bear to think of what is happening to her there."

The Home Office has done this before to gay Ugandan torture victims. For example, in 2005 Kizza Musinguzi who was jailed by the Ugandan government for his gay human rights work and subjected to four months of forced labour, water torture, beatings and rape faced the Home Office saying that the abuse he was subject to did not constitute persecution. In Harmondsworth asylum detention centre he was abused and denied medical treatment. There is considerable evidence that asylum seekers have been subjected to severe physical abuse from contractors hired by Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith's Home Office.

UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group carries many harrowing stories of the UK's treatment of gay asylum seekers like Prossy. Most of those returned simply disappear to unknown fates. Others have committed suicide here rather than be returned.

Makes you proud to be British.

pinknews.co.uk
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7895.html

June 10, 2008

11
Ugandan bishop attacks European attitude towards gays

by Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
An Anglican bishop has urged the government of Uganda to keep homosexuality illegal. Eria Paul Luzinda of the Mukono diocese said that "not all that comes from Europe is superior and must be taken up."

"I have been hearing that gays are demanding that the government should legalise their activities," Bishop Luzinda said, according to the Daily Monitor. This is absurd because God created a man and woman so that they can produce and fill this world. The government should not be tempted to legalise this backward culture which is bound to destroy this country."

In 2007 Bishop Luzinda condemned the decriminalisation of adultery by the Ugandan Constitutional Court. Last week three gay rights activists forced their way into an international conference about HIV/AIDS prevention in Uganda. Their protest was sparked when the head of Uganda's AIDS commission said that gay people are driving up the number of infections in the country, but would not be targeted with prevention work. The international meeting was organised by an international group including the US, the World Bank, the UN. More than a million of Uganda's 27 million people are already HIV+.

The three protesters have been released from jail but are to face charges. Uganda's penal code carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for homosexual conduct, while 'attempts' at carnal knowledge get seven years of imprisonment. A poll in August 2007 found that 95% of Ugandans want homosexual acts to remain illegal. Government officials have regularly threatened and harassed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans.

In 2005 Uganda became the first country in the world to introduce laws banning same-sex marriage. Last summer an organisation called Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a coalition of four LGBT organisations, launched a campaign called "Let us Live in Peace." At a press conference in Kampala the group condemned discrimination and violence against LGBT people, as well as the life-threatening silence about their sexualities in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes.

In response, Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told the BBC that homosexuality was "unnatural." He denied charges of police harassment of LGBT people, but also declared, "We know them, we have details of who they are."

In response to the SMUG press conference the first anti-gay rally in the country's history and was organised by the Uganda Joint Christian Council. UJCC member churches include the Roman Catholic and Anglican Church of Uganda.

pinknews.co.uk
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-7941.html

June 12, 2008

12
Drop charges against the Uganda Three, demands human rights group

by Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
Three gay rights activists arrested after demonstrating at an international conference in Uganda should not be charged, say Human Rights Watch. Onziema Patience, Valentine Kalende, and Usaam Mukwaaya made their voices heard at the HIV/AIDS Implementers Meeting last week. While they have now been released from jail, they are due in court on June 20th on charges of criminal trespass. HRW reports: "co-sponsors of the Implementers Meeting later provided the activists with appropriate accreditation, the police detained one of the activists for over four hours and charged him with "forgery of documents." Amnesty UK's director said last week that she considered them to be prisoners of conscience, detained for their peaceful activism. Their protest was sparked when the head of Uganda's AIDS commission said that gay people are driving up the number of infections in the country, but would not be targeted with prevention work.

The international meeting was organised by a group of countries and organisation, among them the US, the World Bank, the UN. Their treatment "shows the Ugandan government's determination to enforce silence around sexuality and HIV/AIDS," HRW said in a letter to Minister of Justice and Attorney General Edward Kiddu Makubuya. HRW wants the Ugandan government to drop all charges against the three and to stop future arrests and prosecution of activists working on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity.

"Silence around HIV/AIDS kills," said Juliana Cano Nieto, researcher of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Programme at HRW. "LGBT people do not 'drive' HIV in Uganda, but they have driven many community-based responses. They deserve recognition and inclusion, not repression and jail. When police silence voices defending public health, the only winner is the virus. Uganda’s once-praised HIV prevention efforts are giving way to prejudice and fear."

Daily Queer News
http://www.dailyqueernews.com/news/589/

June 16, 2008

13
The ‘Homo Terror’ in Uganda

by Toby Grace | Out In Jersey
Recently, the world-wide campaign to prevent the British Home Office from deporting Mahdi Kazemi, a 19 year old gay Iranian student whose visa had expired, back to certain death at the hands of Iranian authorities was met with success when Home Office officials bowed to activist pressure and granted a five year asylum visa. Mahdi had been revealed as gay when his boyfriend’s father discovered their email correspondence and turned his own son over to Iranian police to be tortured and executed. There could be little doubt that Mahdi would have suffered the same fate, had he been repatriated.

Fortunately, Mahdi was able to connect with a small but very dedicated organization called Gay Asylum UK and with internationally known gay rights activist Peter Tatchell. An internet and media campaign was quickly organized, including an on-line petition that garnered approximately 8,000 signatures from people all over the planet. The campaign resulted in the story being featured by every major British and European news outlet, both print and broadcast, as well as CNN. A resolution of support was passed by the European Parliament and, in the U.K., 63 members of the House of Lords petitioned the Home office.

While the campaign to save Mahdi was a success, it evidently failed to produce substantive changes in Home Office policy. Gay Asylum is now working with a U. K. Metropolitan Community Church on the case of Prossy Kakooza, a 26-year-old woman who fled Uganda after suffering vicious sexual, physical and verbal attacks due to her sexual orientation.