Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2005 - Uganda

Assault against SMUG president's house93

In the night of 20 July 2005, the house of Mrs. Victor Juliet Mukasa, president of the Sexual Minorities in Uganda (SMUG), a prominent NGO advocating for the rights of homosexuals in the country, was attacked by members of a local community council in the outskirts of Kampala, where Mrs. Mukasa lives. Although they did not present any search warrant, these individuals seized several documents relating to the association's activities.

SMUG advocates for the promotion and the respect of all rights enshrined in the Ugandan Constitution and international human rights instruments for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons – in particular the right to live free from any discrimination.

Another lesbian activist who was staying at Mrs. Musaka's place the night of the raid was arbitrarily arrested and detained by local officials. She was later transferred to the police station, where she was subjected to humiliating and degrading treatments. She was released without charges under the condition that she would come back to the station on the next day along with Mrs. Musaka.

By the end of 2005, Mrs. Musaka still feared for her safety.


[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

93. See Press Release of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), 13 October 2005.

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