A new report has come out indicating a common practice of police abuse towards people arrested under suspicion of being LGBTI.
The report categorically notes that the Ugandan police harass and physically abuse gay people in custody. Chapter Four Uganda documented several cases of men suspected of being homosexual having intrusive physical examinations.
Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda under old British Penal Codes. After the Anti-homosexuality Act which was enacted to ensure harsher punishment for homosexuality and so called promotion thereof, was invalidated by the Courts, plans to introduce new harsher legislation have been resumed.
According to the BBC, Uganda's internal affairs minister said the allegations were not true but his office would look at the findings. Aronda Nyakairima said that the Ugandan government did not discriminate against anyone.
The 27-page report entitled Where Do We Go for Justice? Noted that officers routinely refused to look into cases reported by gay men and lesbians.
It found several instances when the police instead turned against them because of their sexuality, charging them with crimes such as indecent exposure, sodomy and having sex against the order of nature.
They were harassed into signing false and self-incriminating statements and some of the 21 people interviewed by researchers also talked of being beaten by the police or prison wardens. Similar reports have been made on many occasions to African HRC.
As noted in the BBC article and the Report and as verified from direct information to African HRC, for which we have maintained records, some said they were forced to have their rectums and genitals examined.
It is also well reported that many in detention on homosexuality-related charges were also sometimes paraded in front of the media and arbitrarily denied bail, the report said.
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The full report can be seen here in PDF form: https://www.scribd.com/doc/257167995/Uganda-Report-Police-Abuse-Exams