By Melanie Nathan, ED African Human Rights Coalition, September 28, 2023. "We are available to give full briefings for much of what cannot be said publicly, yet."
Back in May of this year, President Museveni signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, otherwise known as the Kill the Gays Bill, under which people can serve 10 years to life in prison to hanging, under the death penalty, for what ultimately boils down to same-sex attraction and love. This week at UNGA, the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, when the global diplomatic community attended the United Nations sessions in New York City, a news editor from ITV, United Kingdom, asked Vice President Jessica Alupo, of Uganda, as she entered the United Nations, for her response to gay people being forced into hiding, starving and being beaten in her country - she turned to the camera and smiled! That was it.
She is welcomed into the United Nations with Uganda a legitimate member of the United Nations, and yet all the while, other than a brief mention by President Biden at his UNGA address, the issue of LGBTQI people facing genocide, is muted, with the response, by global nations, minimal to zero.
At African Human Rights Coalition we can attest to the truth of this ITV report, below, where even journalists are forced to mute their reporting or minimally report for fear of security and further harms to those desperately trying to tell their stories.
The ITV report does its utmost to protect those willing to speak, while providing the horror, all on our watch. This could be construed under the new law in Uganda, as PROMOTING HOMOSEXUALITY, turning even journalists and media outlets into criminals subject to harsh punitive measures.
As for Alupo's whimsical response, its seems when a Vice President of a country could not give a damn about the lives of a minority being persecuted under unconstitutional laws, and effective sanctions are minimal, it serves to amplify the viciousness and cruelty of Uganda's President Museveni, where he called upon the leaders of African Nations to lead the world in "getting rid of homosexuality in the whole world".
As African leaders now start to oblige Museveni's request, such as the Namibia, Kenyan and Ghanaian Parliamentarians, Madam VP Jessica Alupo gets to promote queer genocide at the United Nations, on American soil, with a smile.
It is time for a robust public response, and productive reactions from the world to include the U.S. State Department and the Biden administration as well as the United Kingdom and EU Parliaments and World Leaders. Whereas before we feared backlash against the Ugandan LGBTQI+ community, we are way beyond that now, in terms of the extent of the suffering which can be viewed to a degree in the ITV report.
PIC: Vice President Jessica Alupo, of Uganda thinks beating and starving gays in her country is something to smile about...
Africa’s LGBTQI+ communities are in crisis as many people are in hiding, seeking relocations, safe shelter and protection causing a significant migration between countries. AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COALITION (AHRC) is the only global organization that focuses exclusively on LGBTQI+ people in and from African countries, due to criminalizing laws, persecution, violence, and discrimination. We engage in general and ad hoc case advocacy. We provide humanitarian, legal services and resources. We are available to give full briefings for much of what cannot be said publicly, yet. Please consider donating to this work where all funds are used towards relocations and the providing of food for LGBTQI+ people hunted, in hiding and fleeing. DONATE HERE. See the moving yet muted out of need for protection and security ITV report here:
HERE:
Melanie Nathan
Human Rights Law Expert Witness for Asylum Seekers African Human Rights Coalition Executive Director AfricanHRC.org Speaker: Melnathan.com Blog: Oblogdee.Blog