Rights group: Members of Uganda's gay community fleeing the country

Kampala - Members of Uganda's beleaguered gay community are fleeing the country
because of worsening discrimination and harassment, a leading gay rights group
said on Friday.
'We are not safe at all. Our members are receiving daily attacks from all
sides. Some members of our community are running away from the country,' Julian
Pepe Onziema, the head of the umbrella group Sexual Minorities Uganda, told
dpa.
Three people fled to Nairobi after receiving death threats, Pepe added.
'Although some of our people have left and some plan to leave, me I am not
leaving. I am receiving threats each day but I am staying in Uganda. I am not
moving anywhere, let them kill me,' said Onziema.
Minister for Ethics and Integrity Simon Lotodo last week shut down a gay
rights workshop, scaring an internationally-acclaimed human rights activist
into hiding.
In an interview with dpa, Lotodo pledged to tighten the crackdown on gays and
prevent the community from holding any more meetings.
Uganda has been facing international criticism and threats of shutting off aid
from foreign donors since a tough anti-homosexual bill was introduced in
parliament in 2009. The bill was shelved, but introduced again in January.
Under the draft legislation, leading a gay lifestyle would lead to automatic
prison time and even the death penalty.
A year after the killing of prominent gay rights activist David Kato made
international headlines last year, newspapers, government officials and
preachers continue to launch verbal assaults on homosexuals. Attacks and
threats against members of the community are still being reported.
Laws dating back to colonial times prohibit same-sex relations in Uganda but
no one had ever been convicted of the offense.

Fonte: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/africa/news/article_1692703.
php/Rights-group-Members-of-Uganda-s-gay-community-fleeing-the-country

Pubblicato da Lorenzo Bernini