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27 Jan 2011

Ugandan gay activist murdered; lesbian faces deportation to Uganda

Activist David Kato, whose name and photograph was published in a tabloid story that promised to out 100 homosexuals next to a headline reading 'hang them', was bludgeoned to death in his home near the capital; tabloid editor says he has no regrets about the story despite Kato's death.

Updates:

Jan 27: BBC reports that Ugandan police have arrested one suspect in the murder of gay activist David Kato but the main suspect, who police say lived with Kato, remains at large. The police have said there is no connection between Kato's activism and his death.

Jan 27: Giles Muhame, managing editor of the weekly Rolling Stone tabloid that outed David Kato and others in the "Hang them" articles told the UK Guardian in a telephone interview: "I have no regrets about the story. We were just exposing people who were doing wrong." On Oct 2, 2010, the paper promised to expose 100 gay people, and printed the photographs, names, and in some cases home areas, of people it claimed were gay. A few weeks later the tabloid carried another frontpage story with the headline "More homos' faces exposed", with the identities of 17 people inside.

Jan 27: US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemn killing, call for a swift and thorough investigation of his death by local authorities.

Jan 28: Scuffles broke out between locals and friends of the late activist at his funeral on Friday after the pastor conducting the service berated gay people. Reuters also reported that as villagers refused to bury the coffin, friends of Kato, most of whom were gay, carried his coffin to the grave and buried it themselves.


David Kato, a gay activist and one of the plaintiffs in the successful lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction against the tabloid that promised to publish a list of 100 homosexuals, was murdered on Jan 26.

David Kato, a gay activist, was found murdered at his home near the Ugandan capital of Kampala on Jan 26.

According to the Box Turtle Bulletin blog that closely follows the developments in Uganda, Kato, the advocacy and litigation officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), was found bludgeoned to death at his home near the Ugandan capital of Kampala. The blog says Kato's death has been confirmed by his colleagues Frank Mugisha and Pepe Julian Onziema, who identified Kato's body in the hospital morgue.

Kato was one of three applicants who had been named by the tabloid Rolling Stone (no relation to the US publication of the same name) under a headline tagged “Hang Them!” His photo also appeared on the tabloid’s front cover and inside where another photo appeared with his name.

After being named by the tabloid and despite the favourable court verdict, Kato had expressed fear for his safety. He was quoted as saying in an AlertNet article that he had been living in terror ever since he was named. “Since we got exposed by Rolling Stone, we have been living like fugitives in our own country,” he said. “We have to keep shifting houses for fear of being attacked. Some of the gays have decided to leave the city and head to rural areas in order to protect themselves.” Several activists said they had been attacked after their photographs were published.

At this time, it is not known whether his killing was linked to the court case or tabloid story.

Three activists, including Kato, eventually sued the publication and won on January 3. The judge ruled that the publication had violated their constitutional rights to privacy and ordered compensation. He also issued an injunction prohibiting any further publication of the identities and home locations of individuals labeled homosexuals.

Kato had been a leading voice in the fight against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which has been before Uganda's parliament since October 15, 2009. While homosexual sex is already illegal in Uganda, the proposed law would criminalise all homosexuality, making it punishable by a fine and life imprisonment. "Repeat offenders" and those who are HIV positive would be subject to the death penalty. The bill would also oblige anyone with knowledge of someone who is or might be a homosexual to report that person to the police within 24 hours.

In a statement on its website, the US-based Human Rights Watch provided additional details about the case. The statement said that witnesses told police that a man entered Kato's home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. The police told Kato's lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.

In a statement condemning the killing, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) called on the police and the Government of Uganda to "seriously investigate the circumstances surrounding David’s death."

The statement read: "We also call on religious leaders, political leaders and media houses to stop demonizing sexual minorities in Uganda since doing so creates a climate of violence against gay persons. Val Kalende, the Chair of the Board at Freedom and Roam Uganda stated that 'David’s death is a result of the hatred planted in Uganda by U.S Evangelicals in 2009. The Ugandan Government and the so-called U.S Evangelicals must take responsibility for David’s blood!'

"David’s life was cut short in a brutal manner. David will be deeply missed by his family and friends, his students, and Human Rights organizations throughout Uganda and around the world. Speaking about what the death of David means in the struggle for equality, Frank Mugisha, the Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda said, 'No form of intimidation will stop our cause. The death of David will only be honored when the struggle for justice and equality is won. David is gone and many of us will follow, but the struggle will be won. David wanted to see a Uganda where all people will be treated equally despite their sexual orientation.'"


A matter of life and death: The struggle for Ugandan gay rights

A talk by David Kato at the Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge, UK (24 Feb, 2010)

David Kato is a Ugandan Human Rights activist. He is also a key member of the largest sexual rights based organisation in the country Sexual Minorities Uganda where he is heavily involved in issues of advocacy and litigation in support of the LGBTI community. Kato was in conversation with Dr Andy Tucker (Deputy Director, University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies) on the current life threatening situation faced by sexual minority groups in Uganda and the continued struggle for sexuality-based rights. This event was co-hosted by the Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre of Governance and Human Rights.



A lesbian asylum seeker in the U.K. faces deportation to Uganda


Brenda Namigadde, 29, fled Uganda in 2003 after being threatened
and her house destroyed over her relationship with her Canadian partner. 
Her initial asylum claim was rejected in part on the basis that there was
not sufficient evidence that she is a lesbian. Photo: Guardian

On the same say he was murdered, a campaign highlighting the dangers a lesbian asylum seeker in the U.K. will face should she be deported back to Uganda.

The UK Guardian newspaper reported that the 29-year-old lesbian has been told by a Ugandan MP that she must "repent or reform" when she returns home. She is due to be deported on Friday.

Commenting on Brenda Namigadde's case, the politician, David Bahati, said he would drop a clause making homosexuality punishable by death in a bill he introduced to the Ugandan parliament. 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender campaigners are however sceptical of his pledge to drop the death penalty, and said that Bahatia's intervention meant Namigadde was in "desperate trouble" if deported. Gay sex is a criminal offence in Uganda punishable by a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Bahati told the Guardian: "Brenda is welcome in Uganda if she will abandon or repent her behaviour. Here in Uganda, homosexuality is not a human right. It is behaviour that is learned and it can be unlearned. We wouldn't want Brenda to be painting a wrong picture of Uganda, that we are harassing homosexuals."

He said he was "willing to drop the death penalty" because of international concerns, but "key clauses", including life imprisonment for gay people or gay marriage, imprisonment for the "promotion" of homosexuality and for those who fail to report an offence under the act, would remain.

Asked what would happen if she did not "repent" he said: "If she is caught in illegal practices she will be punished. If she comes to promote homosexuality, if she is caught in the act, if she is caught in illegal acts, she will be punished. I would be surprised, if she was promoting homosexuality, if she were not arrested."

Petition UK Home Secretary Theresa May to stop Brenda's deportation.

Reader's Comments

1. 2011-01-27 19:15  
This is really tragic, beyond words...
2. 2011-01-27 20:11  
Oh. My. God. In the 21st Century??
3. 2011-01-27 20:36  
God...thats really fucked up
4. 2011-01-27 21:16  
Shame on Uganda and shame on those American evangelists
5. 2011-01-27 21:18  
Still in dark ages...very very dark!
6. 2011-01-27 21:19  
It's hard not to hate.
7. 2011-01-27 21:31  
Then ring your nearest Ugandan Embassy... I did just that this afternoon... I spoke to a guy at Minister level in the Ugandan Beijing Embassy (see my blog for numbers) ... I am tempted to make up a sign saying "David Kato... Uganda's shame" ... will find the embassy address tomorrow...

The diplomat did not know of the news (he said), and said he did not approve of this action, and it was not what Uganda was about. I expressed to him that I was thankful for Uganda's intervention in Rwanda and Burundi in the past, and that I felt like getting on the next plane to Uganda to protest!

This hate in Uganda is exported from a United States church movement...

8. 2011-01-27 23:35  
what a country...
we should be very very thankful that it's very unlikely to happen to us...
9. 2011-01-28 01:00  
I'm saddened and disheartened that this happened though I'm not surprised that it happened given the death-to-all-gays rhetoric there. It's just evil and I'm amazed that they can't see that.
10. 2011-01-28 03:24  
Uganda, so progressive and such a rich history but on the dark side, the Idi Amin part of the society and now this. tragedy for everyone.

If those Christian extremists thought they were correct, the forgot to remember that Jesus said, "Love your neighbor" , not some, a few, the neighbors you like, but ALL.

If anyone thinks, "it can not happend here" think again, that is what the Jews in Poland thought during the World War 2 Nazi period in Germany, and then of course, "it did happen here". 7 million killed.
11. 2011-01-28 04:40  
Please sign the petition! (See end of article)
12. 2011-01-28 05:10  
I seriously want to punch that editor's mouth! His stutter just makes it worse! This is a continent that has crazy things such as killings of Albino Africans as they believe their body parts have magical powers, go figure! Disgusting.
13. 2011-01-28 06:03  
This just goes to show how diverse the world is. Every place you go, you'll encounter different attitudes toward different social phenomenon.

Truth is, I am being so coldly analytical about this because it is so awfully hideous killing.
14. 2011-01-28 09:06  
I'm sincerely asking this question, it's not meant to be aggressive...is Uganda one of the countries that China has its "agricultural interests" in?
15. 2011-01-28 10:18  
It's sad to read that some people are still living in fear, few of them even live with risks of being murdered, just because of what they love, which is so natural.

The west has had lots of lessons learnt about their liberalization towards gays and lesbians over the last three to four decades. Where are they now and could something be done to share these lessons learnt to a country like Uganda?

No. 14, remind you that the US has tremendous 'petro interests' in Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is also illegal. There have been constant discriminations towards homosexuals in the kingdom. The US has put her eyes under soil with regards to such human right violations in the kingdom, while you are enjoying freedom surfing this website.
16. 2011-01-28 11:49  
Need to educate them in every different sexuality equally. I pity with David just been murder like that. Hope the justice can bring down the person who doing such an immoral behaviour.
17. 2011-01-28 11:51  
Wow that is sad !
18. 2011-01-28 14:03  
RIP =(.
19. 2011-01-28 17:23  
its heart breaking to hear such news......
20. 2011-01-28 18:22  
The result of hatred from a religion. They become living Gods to kill people in the name of their God base on sexual orientation. So sad to read news like this.
21. 2011-01-28 19:01  
a sad day for the gays of uganda, for the friends of david.
All i hope for, is that the ignorant stop preaching hatred to others about gays.

This world is getting worse, not better
22. 2011-01-28 19:10  
Shocking news. Someone has been tortured to death in Uganda for being gay... take action people - yes, write to your Ugandan embassy and protest.
23. 2011-01-28 20:54  
Rest In Peace brave man one feels sadness but at the same time new possibilities Arise that your life and death may give more meaning and impetus to the movements to end these kind of illogical religious propagated murders and harassment.
I wish next incarnatuion you end up in a more benign environment if you are again homosexual (;-0)
24. 2011-01-29 00:42  
Well..a combination of rightist American type religious bigots , tea party religious types, with ignorance and superstition thrown in...and you have Uganda. People under 20 will not know about Uganda's infamous Dictator...Idi Amin....loved to kill people.. Africa needs a good wash out..first the fundamentalists..Christian and Muslim..then the superstitions which allow slaughter....But How ????
25. 2011-01-29 00:58  
It shows how important Wikileaks(??) is.. to expose so called democratic governments ..like the US ,Australia and Great Britain....where they treat applicants for asylum so badly and actually do not care about human rights unless their hypocracy is exposed....

So long live Wikileaks without the names of individuals who could suffer harrassment , persecution ,prosecution or death...
Expose the leaders,,,not the small people....
26. 2011-01-29 03:58  
1. Homosexuality
a. Gay
b. sex among those of the same kind or type
c. Homo+sexuality
i. homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them.
ii. sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into various genders (each known as a sex).

2. Homosexual acts
{please elaborate as time and finances permit}

3. Homosexual violence or elimination of said violence.
[CAREFUL!]
In every milieu, gayness, because it does not initially appear to serve a reproductive function, can be said to fall on a continuum similar to that of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as follows from Ascending to Descending:
*Full and total self-actualization and family-unity with love, a condition equal and compatible with other family structures, both traditional and non-traditional. Absolutely no discrimination. Great Society.

*Part of self actualization, a condition to be exalted, with little chance for full integration into the Great Society.

*An aspect of one's identity, a condition that can receive special treatment, but may not, like an insurance product or financial instrument.

*Merely a lifestyle choice, a condition or disease to be treated when convenient.

*A passing fad, as though it were a useful tool or ancillary to or secondary after or substitute for having a feemale,woman wife or feemale,woman girlfriend or a part of ones youth to be cast off in favor of professional pursuit, but not an integrated part of life.

*In harsher places, gay people are usually referred to in a derogatory way and are wrongly maligned as follows

An inconvenient fad that must be nipped in the bud

A mental illness to be treated when convenient and forgotten when possible

A disease to be isolated, quarantined and eliminated as soon as possible
Comment edited on 2011-01-29 04:25:19
27. 2011-01-29 11:02  
'i. homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them.'

The Latin word 'homo' means man (or human); the Greek prefix 'homo' - as in homosexual - means same.
Comment edited on 2011-01-29 11:05:26
28. 2011-01-30 21:22  
solely read the tagline knows this is a sad story.
United Nations please pay high attention on this regions on gay issues plssssssssss.
29. 2011-01-31 14:05  
And they claimed it was nothing to do with homophobic... what a country.
30. 2011-01-31 14:05  
And they claimed it was nothing to do with homophobic... what a country.
Comment #31 was deleted by its author on 2011-02-06 09:36
32. 2011-02-06 09:37  
Sad, sad....homophobia...the disease that's everywhere!!!!
Shall we thank the religious extremists for all that mess???
Or was it the lower side of human nature...to pick on the different, the unusual,etc? Or rather, the exploitation of the lower side of human nature by religious extremists AND crap politicians for power & control???

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