This report was prepared by Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and the National LGBTI Security Team in response to the passing of the Anti-Homosexual Act 2014 (AHA) by the Ugandan Government. It considers instances of persecution of the LGBTI community in Uganda as recorded by Ugandan civil society organisations in the period four months after the Anti-Homosexuality Act was passed by the Ugandan Parliament on 20 December 2013.
The AHA was signed by President Museveni on 24 February 2014 and appeared in the official Uganda Gazette on 10 March 2014, when it entered into force. The AHA further criminalises the LGBTI community and their allies in Uganda. It creates new crimes, including: a life sentence for ‘aggravated homosexuality’; a five year sentence for ‘the promotion of homosexuality’; and, a seven year sentence for ‘aiding and abetting homosexuality’.
The passing of AHA has given permission to a culture of extreme and violent homophobia whereby both state and non-state actors are free to persecute Uganda’s LGBTI people with impunity. These include violent attacks, arbitrary arrests, blackmail, evictions and a concerted effort to drive LGBTI civil society underground.
This SMUG and National LGBTI Security Team report analyses the persecution of LGBTI people in Uganda in this period. It focuses on: reports of violence against LGBTI people in Uganda; the intimidation of the LGBTI community in Uganda; loss of property, home or income; and, the pyscho-social impact of the AHA. The report ends with observations and recommendations to support the LGBTI community in Uganda.
Download the report