The
Ugandan Minister of Ethics and Integrity, Hon. Simon Lukodo to closed an LGBT
capacity building workshop on the morning of Tuesday, February 14, 2012.
Activists
report that in the morning of February 14, 2012, a government official claiming
to belong to the President’s Office walked into the workshop room and sat down.
With concern, one of the organizers, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, asked him to
move out as he was uninvited to the workshop. The official asked Kasha to
follow him to a spot in the hotel. Upon entering that room with him, Kasha met
with the Minister and his aides.
The
Minister demanded to know the purpose of the workshop and Kasha responded that
it was about leadership. He further demanded to know what kind of leadership
the workshop was addressing and again, Kasha responded to his inquiry. The
Minister then asked Kasha to come with him to the workshop room where he began
to speak to the participants directly. At that point, the Minister announced
that the workshop was illegal and unethical and ordered its closure.
There
was resistance from the workshop organizers and participants and as a result,
the Minister ordered for the arrest of Kasha. Fortunately, Kasha was able to
sneak out and run. On reaching her room, the hotel staff called Kasha to inform
her that the Minister and police were waiting for her at the hotel lobby. Kasha
managed to sneak out of her room and escaped by jumping over the hotel fence.
The hotel manager is reported to have been put under gun point to produce Kasha
and the Minister left an order for both Kasha and Vanja to leave the country as
they are not needed in Uganda.
According
to further reports from activists, Kasha was summoned by the office of the
Minister yesterday afternoon to explain more about the purpose of the workshop
which she declined to do for safety reasons. The rest of the participants
checked out of their rooms, amidst officials searching for Kasha on every floor
of the hotel, and returned safely to their homes. Eight days after the
Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been re-tabled, the general sense among LGBT people
is that of fear and hopelessness.
Such
actions are in direct contravention of the Constitution of Uganda, The African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, amongst other international human rights instruments, all of which
strongly promote and protect the rights to freedom of association, assembly,
speech, expression and the right to information of all citizens and human
beings, without discrimination.
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