Uganda’s anti-gay law, which ranks as one of the world’s harshest, has triggered a torrent of abuse against LGBTQ+ people, mostly by private individuals, rights groups say.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) prescribes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts. At least six people have been charged under it, including two accused of the capital offence of ‘aggravated homosexuality’, Reuters reports.
According to a report by a committee of the Convening for Equality coalition, the main perpetrators of human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ people this year — including torture, rape, arrest and eviction — were private individuals.
It said the law and the rampant homophobic rhetoric that preceded its passage had radicalised the public against the LGBTQ+ community.
Mob-aided arrests had become increasingly common ‘because AHA has put LGBTQ+ persons on the spot as persons of interest and the public seems to be the custodians of enforcing the witch hunt’.
Between 1 January and 31 August researchers documented 306 rights violations based on the victim’s sexual orientation and gender identity. State actors were the perpetrators in 25 of those cases.
Reports by rights activists in 2020 and 2021 found state actors were responsible for nearly 70% of the rights violations documented. Comparative figures for 2022 have not been provided.
The report’s authors documented 18 instances in which police conducted forced anal examinations of people in custody to gather ‘evidence’ of homosexuality.
‘Surviving a forced anal examination at police is something that lives with you forever’, it quoted a survivor as saying.
The report cautioned that its statistics could not be considered exhaustive, given the difficulties LGBTQ+ people face reporting violations.
The climate of fear and intimidation unleashed by the law has also led to rising cases of mental health conditions in the LGBTQ+ community, including suicidal thoughts.
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