Latest news with #Ankole
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Uganda targeting LGBTQ community with hatred and violence: HRW
Uganda's LGBTQ community is facing intensified persecution following the enactment of harsh anti-gay laws two years ago, according to an international NGO. In a report released on Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Ugandan authorities have 'perpetrated widespread discrimination and violence' and 'spread misinformation and hatred against LGBT people' since the 2023 law was enacted. The 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act made consensual same-sex relations punishable by up to life imprisonment and 'aggravated homosexuality' punishable by death. As the legislation took effect, rights groups and international partners condemned the law and withdrew funding. The HRW report says the government has followed up the legislation with a campaign of persecution, detailing widespread police abuse, including harassment, extortion, and arbitrary arrests based on perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. HRW found that the law has ramped up already existing abuse and discrimination against LGBTQ people to unprecedented heights. The report also detailed the rights violations enabled by the law and the devastating effect it has had on the lives of LGBTQ people, activists, allies, and their families in Uganda. During the months leading up to and following the law being passed, the Ugandan authorities, including high-profile political and government figures, used traditional and social media to spread misinformation and hatred against LGBTQ people, the report notes, leading to an uptick in attacks and harassment against them and LGBTQ rights groups. 'For the last two years, LGBT Ugandans have suffered a range of abuses because of the government's willful decision to legislate hate against them,' said Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at HRW. 'The Ugandan authorities need to urgently improve this environment, which enables a wide range of human rights violations and puts countless Ugandans at serious risk of abuse.' The interviewees reported a surge in threatening messages. 'People would keep on calling you [saying]: 'We know where you stay. We know what you do,'' one told HRW. Another activist described how online threats escalated until three men broke into her home in 2023, attacking her and sexually assaulting her friend. She told HRW that one assailant said: 'You make me ashamed to be Ankole. If we want, we can kill you and no one will look for you.'' Ankole is one of Uganda's main ethnic groups. Other Ugandan rights groups have reported similar patterns since the law's passage. Within 24 hours of its enactment, eight cases of physical and sexual violence, including corrective rape, were identified, according to Kampala-based DefendDefenders. 'The number of requests [for assistance] is overwhelming,' a staff member told HRW. Prominent LGBTQ organisations were also targeted, according to the report, including through group bans, staff arrests, and harassment of lawyers representing queer clients. HRW contacted government, legal, and police authorities but received no response.
New Indian Express
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Uganda's LGBTQ community in 'climate of fear' since anti-gay law: HRW
NAIROBI: Uganda's LGBTQ community faces worsening persecution since the country passed one of the world's harshest anti-gay laws two years ago, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday. The Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 imposed penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations and contained provisions that make "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by death. Rights groups and international partners pulled funding and condemned the law. HRW interviewed almost 60 people from the LGBTQ community, their families, activists and politicians for a report on the law's impact. "LGBT people, LGBT rights organisations, are basically living in a climate of fear because there's a law that justifies people taking out violence against them," HRW researcher Oyem Nyeko told AFP. "(The law) made homophobia legitimate. It institutionalised it." HRW said in the report that police had "harassed, extorted and arbitrarily arrested and detained people on the basis of their perceived or real sexual orientation or gender identity". Interviewees said threatening phone calls had hugely increased since the law was passed. "People would keep on calling you [saying]: 'We know where you stay. We know what you do'," one told HRW. Another activist said virtual threats had escalated until three men broke into her home in 2023, attacking her and sexually assaulting her friend. "One of the men said: 'I am not just beating you for your unholiness but because you make me ashamed to be [ethnically] Ankole. If we want, we can kill you and no one will look for you'," she told HRW, referring to one of Uganda's main ethnic groups.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Uganda LGBTQ community in 'climate of fear' since anti-gay law: HRW
. NAIROBI:Uganda's LGBTQ community faces worsening persecution since the country passed one of the world's harshest anti-gay laws two years ago, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday. The Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 imposed penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations and contained provisions that make "aggravated homosexuality" punishable by death. Rights groups and international partners pulled funding and condemned the law. HRW interviewed almost 60 people from the LGBTQ community, their families, activists and politicians for a report on the law's impact. "LGBT people, LGBT rights organisations, are basically living in a climate of fear because there's a law that justifies people taking out violence against them," HRW researcher Oyem Nyeko told AFP. "(The law) made homophobia legitimate. It institutionalised it." HRW said in the report that police had "harassed, extorted and arbitrarily arrested and detained people on the basis of their perceived or real sexual orientation or gender identity". Interviewees said threatening phone calls had hugely increased since the law was passed. "People would keep on calling you [saying]: 'We know where you stay. We know what you do'," one told HRW. Another activist said virtual threats had escalated until three men broke into her home in 2023, attacking her and sexually assaulting her friend. "One of the men said: 'I am not just beating you for your unholiness but because you make me ashamed to be [ethnically] Ankole. If we want, we can kill you and no one will look for you'," she told HRW, referring to one of Uganda's main ethnic groups. Other rights groups in Uganda witnessed a similar trend after the law was passed. "Within just 24 hours of parliament passing the law, they identified eight cases of physical and sexual violence, including cases of rape by men of people they presumed to be gay in order to 'convert' them to heterosexuality," said DefendDefenders, a Kampala-based organisation supporting activists. "The number of requests (for assistance) is overwhelming," a member of the group told HRW. The report noted that prominent LGBTQ organisations had been targeted, with groups banned and staff arrested or threatened. Lawyers representing LGBTQ people were also victims of "heightened harassment", HRW said. The NGO contacted the government, police and public prosecutors to request information and present their research findings but received no response.
