( 28 February 2014Johannesburg ) Barely one day after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law, Ugandan tabloid newspapers began running articles publishing the names and photographs of people perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex ( LGBTI ). In spite of the landmark 2010 Ugandan High Court ruling in the case of Kasha Jacqueline v Rolling Stone, which banned media houses from publishing the identities of people alleged to be LGBTI, the government has taken no action to protect LGBTI Ugandans and human rights defenders from violence, harassment, or violations of privacy.
On 25 February, Red Pepper published a list of names of what it called the country's "200 top" homosexuals, some with photographs. On 26, 27, and 28 February, it published additional names and photographs. On 27 February, HELLO! Uganda, another tabloid, published an article entitled, "Defiant! Top City Homos Throw Mega Bash" along with photographs and names of persons perceived to be LGBTI. ( Download photos of the tabloid covers. )
This week's articles by Red Pepper and HELLO! Uganda are in clear violation of the High Court ruling and put the targeted persons and their families at extreme risk of violence and abuse. ( Highlights of the High Court ruling are excerpted below; download full ruling. )
"The government's inaction in response to these incendiary articles suggests that it intends to disregard its own laws and leave the LGBTI community in the hands of mob justice," said Thomas Ndayiragije, Senior Program Officer for Africa at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ( IGLHRC ). "The Government of Uganda must take responsibility to protect LGBTI individuals and human rights defenders in Uganda and act immediately to prevent violence."
IGLHRC calls upon the Government of Uganda to immediately take measures to protect LGBTI individuals and guarantee the safety of human rights defenders advocating for the rights of LGBTI people, including by:
Ensuring that the Anti-Homosexuality Law is not enforced prior to publication in theUganda Gazette. ( Despite being signed by President Museveni, the law does not enter into force until it is published by the official government printing bureau. )
Ending its campaign of incendiary homophobic and transphobic statements by top officials, including President Museveni.
Planning and publicly disseminating a strategy to offer immediate and long-term protection against violence and harassment to LGBTI individuals and human rights defenders working to protect LGBTI rights.
Enforcing the landmark 2010 ruling by the High Court of Uganda, Kasha Jacqueline v Rolling Stone.
"There is a single remedy to this situation: do not enforce this unconstitutional law," said Ndayiragije. "The government has the burden to immediately make public its plans to preserve the life and safety of all LGBTI individuals and human rights defenders in Uganda."
BACKGROUND:
EXCERPTS OF KASHA JACQUELINE V ROLLING STONE ( 2010 )
[The] court would easily conclude that…the respondents extracted the applicants from other members of the community who are regarded as worthy, in equal measure, of human dignity and who ought to be treated as worthy of dignity and respect…
With the right to privacy of the person and home, under Article 27 of the Constitution, the court has no doubt, again using the objective test, that the exposure of the identities of the persons and homes of the applicants for the purposes of fighting gayism and the activities of gays…threaten the rights of the applicants to privacy of the person and their homes. They are entitled to that right…
It must be noted that this application is not about homosexuality per se. It is about fundamental rights and freedoms…
Court would, therefore, find that the impugned publication threatened the rights of the applicants to respect for human dignity and protection from inhuman treatment and the right to privacy of the person and home.