Blackmail, harassment, torture, and arrests: The effects of Uganda’s homophobic law

When Uganda enacted its anti-homosexuality law in May this year, Clare Novia, a transgender woman, decided to keep a low profile. The 25-year-old, who was working as a sex worker in the northern Gulu city at the time, decided to quit her job and began running a retail shop to make ends meet. But one evening, while hanging out with her friends, two police officers approached her and began confronting her.

“The police officers began questioning what I was wearing and why I had earrings,” Novia narrates. “As I was about to respond to them, one of the [police] officers began slapping me and kicking me repeatedly, saying ‘why are you behaving like them [queer people]? Are you one of them?’”

At that moment, Novia remembers, one of her friends began pleading with the police officers until they had to pay them to stop assaulting her. Novia, who still has a sprained neck from the assault, has since relocated to the village “to live with my mother because of the trauma and fear that was eating me up.”

Novi is not alone. In recent months, there has been an increase in reported cases of queer people accusing police officers of using blackmail, harassment, and torture under the pretext of enforcing the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Uganda has one harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world, where one can face life imprisonment for sexual acts between persons of the same sex, “aggravated homosexuality” with the death penalty and “promotion of homosexuality” with up to 20 years in prison.

The Ugandan Public Prosecutor’s Office (DPP) does not keep track of the number of people who have been charged or arrested under the anti-homosexuality law. When EL PAÍS contacted Ugandan police spokesman Fred Enanga to ask for this number, he too was unable to provide the figure, but assured that the final tally will be shared in the police’s annual crime report.

However, a recent report, shows that over 300 human rights violations and abuses — 180 evictions from housing, 159 instances of discrimination, and 176 incidents of torture, and cruel and degrading treatment — have been committed by state and non-state actors against LGBTQ+ people. The report adds that there has been an increase in reported cases of mental health problems and school dropouts among LGBTQ+ Ugandans. One clinic cited by the authors of the SRT report claims that more than 70% of LGBTQ+ people who sought the center’s services had recently experienced suicidal thoughts.

The arrests and abuses of queer people have increased to such an extent that the DPP was forced to intervene by ordering that all files of charges related to the anti-homosexuality law be referred to its headquarters, along with a legal opinion to provide them with additional guidance before charges are filed. “It has come to [our] attention that a number of charges of homosexuality and aggravated homosexuality are now being [filed] by some [police] officers without internalizing some crucial aspects of the law,” said Janes Frances Abodo, director of DPP. “It is important to note that the Anti-Homosexuality Act only criminalizes offenses where a sexual act has been performed […] To avoid doubts, a person who is suspected of being a homosexual and has not committed a sexual act with another person of the same sex does not commit the offense of homosexuality.”

Jacqueline Okui, spokesperson for DPP, revealed in a telephone conversation with this newspaper that a plan to sensitize all police officers and prosecutors in the country is underway, adding that it is meant “to prevent erroneous” charges under the law.

Rampant abuses

Frank Mugisha, a human rights lawyer who has brought cases related to the anti-LGBTQ+ law, explains that the act needs to be repealed because it is “deeply problematic” and contradicts numerous national and international human rights conventions ratified by Uganda. “The queer community has been facing profound hardships when dealing with police, who frequently apprehend and detain individuals based on mere suspicions,” he says. The law is “fueling homophobic sentiments, compelling fairly, friends and the community to isolate and down these individuals.”

“This new law is blatantly unconstitutional and should be nullified by the Constitutional Court as soon as possible,” said Pepe Julian Onziema, one of the report’s authors and leader of the Strategic Response Team (SRT). “Our research clearly shows a massive escalation in serious abuses against LGBTQ+ Ugandans who previously were working, caring for loved ones and living as productive citizens. Now many have been evicted, fired from their jobs, unable to access healthcare, all while facing increasing risks of arrest, mob justice and public humiliation simply for living their lives.”

“This new report shows how LGBTQ+ people in Uganda are living every day in fear, uncertainty, and risk of violence,” added Clare Byarugaba, from the Chapter Four Uganda organization. “Our inherent rights as Ugandan citizens should never be up for debate.”

Ugandan activists are now seeking to overturn the law enacted by President Yoweri Museveni. On October 2, lawyers who have challenged the law met with Constitutional Court judges to discuss the matter, and October 12 was set as the date for the hearing.

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