|
The Ugandan police have been labeled the top violator of homosexuals' rights in the East African nation, according to a new report on rights violations based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The report, released by the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum in Kampala on Friday, indicated that of 116 documented rights violations against homosexuals, 43 involved abuses by members of Uganda's police force.
"For a long time, there has been no clear record of documented evidence that violations take place in Uganda against people who are lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI)," Adrian Jjuuko, the coordinator of the forum, told The Anadolu Agency, blaming the trend on a traditional lack of reporting such cases.
"For the first time, we have a comprehensive report over a period of time that shows violations from 1988 to 2014," he said.
He also accused police of arbitrarily arresting homosexuals.
"For example, a transgender person may be arrested without any reason – just because of the way they look," he told AA.
He went on to say that, when LGBTI people are arrested, they often spend more than the recommended 48 hours in detention before being taken to court.
Several cases have been reported where police unfairly invoke "public order" laws – including charges such as "rogue" and "vagabond" – to arrest LGBTI individuals.
Worse still, Jjuuko told AA, "They are often subjected to physical abuse, including anal examinations to prove whether they have had sex or not, as well as forced HIV tests."
However, George Ssentamu of the Legal Directorate of Uganda Police rejected the allegations, telling AA that police did not unfairly target any group of people.
"Some of these complaints, like long detentions, are common to other offenders, as well," Ssentamu said.
The report also cites cases, such as one from August 2012, when police in the Kampala suburb of Ntinda arrested only one of three men accused of raping a lesbian woman.
Another case was cited from December 2012, when a number of items were stolen from an LGBTI organization. In that case, police only visited the crime scene and took statements from three individuals associated with the organization.
According to Jjuuko, minority groups should have more protection because they are marginalized. But police, he said, had proved unwilling to investigate and prosecute violations against them.
Ssentamu, however, told AA: "We get these reports in our legal department. It's not about this group only. The Police Professional Standards Unit gets all these reports and we conduct internal investigations."
He insisted that the police had internal mechanisms for fighting these violations.
"So if you find any inefficiency, it's common – even with other offenders," he added.
Other violations cited by the report include the denial of registration for certain organizations because their names are unclear or they are suspected of promoting homosexuality.
This, Jjuuko told AA, was done by government institutions such as the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, the Company Registry, the Non-Governmental Organizations Board, and several local authorities that reject bodies that want to register as LGBTI organizations.
The LGBTI rights violations report comes amid media reports that the government plans to retable an anti-homosexuality bill – which was annulled earlier – in parliament.
The report recommends that parliament end legal discrimination against LGBTI people by repealing all existing laws criminalizing same-sex conduct and rejecting discriminatory legislation.
"When you have a law criminalizing homosexuality, that gives powers to arrest; that gives vigilante groups in the communities the go-ahead to attack people because they think the law supports them," Jjuuko said.
"Attempts to bring back the [anti-homosexuality] law will have the same effect on LGBTI people and will worsen the situation in terms of violations," he added.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en - Kampala
|
Poem
Manşetler
Spor
Son Dakika
Haber
Yerel Haberler
