BY MELANIE NATHAN, April 12, 2024.
HRAPF has issues its March 2024 Report for incidents of discrimination and violence in Uganda: This 10th monthly report on violence and other human rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/ expression since the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 (AHA) came into force discusses cases in which known or suspected LGBTIQ persons were targeted for violence and violations purely on the basis of their SOGIE as reported in the month of March 2024, which marks the 10th month of the AHA’s enforcement.
On 3rd April 2024, 10 months after the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 (AHA) first came into force, the Constitutional Court of Uganda delivered judgment in the Consolidated Petitions No. 14, 15, 16 and 85 of 2023 (Hon. Fox Odoi Oywelowo and 21 others v Attorney General and 4 others).
In this judgment, the Court reaffirmed the legitimacy of the AHA 2023, apart from a few sections, and essentially upheld the offenses of homosexuality, aggravated homosexuality, child grooming, same sex marriage and promotion of homosexuality. It is thus clear that the LGBTQ+ community is going to have to take steps to adjust to the AHA 2023 as it appears that the legislation will remain on Uganda’s law books for now.
This report builds on the reports produced earlier in this series and therefore seeks to build on the data available about the enforcement of the AHA 2023 from 30th May 2023 to date.
As with previous reports in this series, this report is limited by the fact that it covers only data reported through the HRAPF legal aid network, that is, our countrywide network of community paralegals, regional legal aid centers, specialized legal aid desks and the central legal aid clinic. The report presents a fair picture of the situation for LGBTIQ persons across the country as reported to HRAPF but may not be representative of all LGBTIQ persons’ lived realities during the month, as we acknowledge the possibility that not all cases that occurred in March 2024 were reported to HRAPF’s network.
African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) can attest to the fact that this does not represent the entire picture. when incidents are reported to AHRC, we ask if the cases have been reported to HRAPF, elucidating that many of the reports we receive have not been reported to HRAPF. We attribute this to some cases being likely opportunistic by people seeking monetary gain and in others, where we have vetted the cases, such to be out of fear for reporting locally based on the current extreme anti-LGBT country conditions in Uganda.
HERE IS THE FULL REPORT
COUNTRY CONDITIONS EXPERT WITNESS
CONTACT: Melanie Nathan, nathan@AfricanHRC.org
Melanie Nathan, Executive Director of African Human Rights Coalition is a qualified country of origin expert witness in the United States and global immigration courts, providing expert written country conditions reports and testimony for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, non-binary, LGBTQI + asylum seekers from African Countries, to include activists, allies and human rights defenders.
Melanie also consults multinational corporations regarding briefings and policy for operations and issue impacted by anti-homosexuality laws and country conditions. SEE HERE