By Melanie Nathan, August 30, 2023.
The reality is horrific. It is happening on our watch. State persecution of LGBTQI+ people in Uganda, through application of a law that is unconstitutional: Reuters is reporting and AHRC has received direct word that the first Ugandan who has been charged with so called ‘aggravated homosexuality’ which is punishable by death, is a 20-year-old man.
Although Uganda has not utilized the death penalty in at least two decades this young person stands charged under a law that could mandate his hanging, under the new Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni.
It prescribes life in prison for same-sex intercourse and the death penalty in cases deemed “aggravated”, which include repeat offenses, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities.
According to a charge sheet seen by Reuters, the defendant was charged on Aug. 18 with aggravated homosexuality after he “performed unlawful sexual intercourse” with a 41-year-old man. It did not specify why the act was considered aggravated.
Justine Balya, an attorney for the defendant, said she believed the entire law was unconstitutional. The law has been challenged in court, but the judges have not yet taken up the case. Balya said four other people have been charged under the law since its enactment and that her client was the first to be prosecuted for aggravated homosexuality.
The law’s enactment three months ago drew widespread condemnation and threats of sanctions. Earlier this month, the World Bank suspended new public financing to Uganda in response to the law.
The United States has also imposed visa restrictions on some Ugandan officials, and President Joe Biden ordered a review of U.S. aid to Uganda. We have yet to hear more…
The United States has not done nearly enough to counter the impact of this legislation. It has failed to deal with the casualties, as this tragic humanitarian crisis unfolds. What special process for pathways and pipelines have been put into place for emergency relief ? This cannot be ‘business as usual.’
This all comes up a time when African countries are clamping down with harsher criminalizing laws and policies, to include government refusals to register LGBTQI refugees in countries of refuge, despite being signatories to the 1951 convention, thereby closing the very few pathways to safety and protection. The few routes are closing fast and people are going to have nowhere to go. This is a crisis of huge magnitude that is barely being addressed.
It was disconcerting to note that the Biden administration’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Hon. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, on the Rachel Maddow show, misconstrued the Ugandan anti-LGBTQI+ climate, by saying that there was no “implementation” of the new Ugandan law, thus intimating it was of less concern.
This statement reflects a deep and profound failure on the part of the USA and our UN representative. The fact of enforcement or implementation itself, while a major concern still, as evidenced by this case, is accompanied by a most significant issue which she ignored, and that is that the law licenses sexual and extreme violence, to include mob violence, against LGBTQI+ people. She also failed to note in what could have been a most opportune moment, that in there is a very significant uptick in such violence since this ‘Kill the Gays Bill’ became law.
The Ambassador ignored this critical aspect which was screaming for a public mention. Is the United States unaware, or is the Ambassador barely briefed?
African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) is currently the only LGBTQI+ Africa dedicated organization engaged in extracting LGBTQI+ Ugandans, who are currently in hiding, from the country on an immediate and emergency basis:
Last week we extracted 3 lesbians, including a high profile public figure who shall remain unnamed. This week we are attempting to assist two more if we can get the much needed funding.
Paths are few and far between and so durable solutions still remain a stretch. But emergency protection is critical under the current circumstances where people can be lose freedom for life or be put to death.
At AHRC we have over 16 people (and more applying) on our emergency extraction list requiring emergency funds to expedite the extraction plans. All cases are different. However we average our need out to require $1,500 per person for immediate extraction.
All people on our list have been fully vetted and are in dire situations where they could be subjected to similar fate as in this case.
We believe that people are being set up and hunted as a means to justify the new legislation.
Unfortunately we are unable to make the individual stories public given the current extreme danger. It would be like advertising that Ann Frank is in hiding to the Nazis.
The lack of funding and logistical partners in the triage and emergency endeavors of ordinary Ugandans (as compared to human rights defenders who have more opportunities) requires this outreach.
PLEASE consider giving to our emergency extraction fund at
www.AfricanHRC.org/donate
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