Teachers to lose jobs over concealing homosexuality

y AL-MAHDI SSENKABIRWA

Posted  Thursday, November 28  2013 at  02:00

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KAMPALA- School administrators who conceal information about immoral acts of homosexuality and lesbianism in schools risk losing their jobs, according to new guidelines.

This will be effected in a revised implementation of the government’s revised Teaching Service Regulations and Teachers’ Professional Code of Conduct.

According to the amended Code of Conduct, such immorality will be regarded as acts of misconduct which will earn a teacher dismissal or retirement in public interest.

“Such acts have been happening in education institutions but we had no legal instrument holding perpetrators accountable. But with the new regulations, we can now impose sanctions against any culprit,” said Mr Mathew Okot-Garimoi, the deputy chairperson Uganda Education Service Commission.

Mr Okot-Garimoi was speaking at the launch of the Teaching Service Regulations 2012 and Teachers’ Professional Code of Conduct, 2012 in Kampala on Tuesday. Both regulations replace those of 1994 and 1996 respectively. Homosexuality is a crime under Uganda’s laws.

However, the vice is reportedly spreading, especially in institutions of learning.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Teachers-to-lose-jobs-over-concealing-homosexuality/-/688334/2090936/-/axtmof/-/index.html

Uganda Police arrest leading gay activist and two friends

Charges against Ganafa are unknown. But there are rumors an alleged ex-lover claimed he contracted HIV after gay sex with him.

Well-known Ugandan gay activist Sam Ganafa and two of his friends have been arrested and detained by police.
Ganafa is director of Spectrum Uganda Initiatives and chair of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), two leading LGBTI organizations.
It is not clear if the claims are true or have been fabricated – either way, they are likely to cause Ganafa problems in a country where rumors spread quickly, particularly when related to gay sex.
LGBTI website 76crimes claims he was arrested after reporting to Kasangati police station in the south of the country. He had gone there at the request of the district police commander.
Police also searched his home and took two of his guests back with them.
GSN has not yet been able to identify these two, but it is thought they are also associated with the LGBTI rights movement in the country.
Ganafa’s home as been used as the Spectrum Uganda office and a shelter for homeless gay, bi and trans people.
Ganafa is expected to appear in court today (13 November) and may face an immediate trial as police are apparently pressing for the case to be dealt with swiftly.
His court appearance will be the first time his supporters will hear what he is charged with.
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/uganda-cops-arrest-leading-gay-activist-and-two-friends131113

British man in Uganda 'terrified' ahead of gay sex trial

A retired British man in Uganda facing trial after police found images of him having sex with another man said he is terrified, as he faces a possible two-year sentence.

Bernard Randall, 65, pleaded not guilty last month in a Ugandan court to charges of "trafficking obscene publications", after his laptop was stolen and films on the computer were handed to a Ugandan tabloid newspaper that specialises in sordid sex and celebrity stories.
"It was private images on a private computer," Randall said, describing his horror at seeing personal photographs printed in the newspaper.
"If any trafficking was done, it was by the robbers who took the laptop, and the newspaper for printing them."
Randall was charged along with a Ugandan, who has also denied far more serious accusations of carrying out "acts of gross indecency", which could see him jailed for up to seven years if found guilty.
Homosexuality is a crime in Uganda, and gay rights activists say they regularly face death threats.
"I was terrified.... I've put padlocks on the windows, checked all the locks on the doors," Randall said, adding he had feared vigilante gangs might seek to attack him.
In 2011, Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato was bludgeoned to death at his home outside Kampala, drawing worldwide condemnation.
Kato's death came after a newspaper in the Ugandan capital published a picture of him in the same issue as a headline demanding that homosexuals be hanged. Situation 'breaks my heart' Randall
British gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has also sent messages of support.
Randall, a former computer systems expert in the finance industry who comes from Kent in southeast England, first came to Uganda in 2011, shortly after his wife died just short of their 40-year wedding anniversary.
Randall only came out as a homosexual after his wife's death.
He returned on holiday to Uganda in September, but days after he arrived, robbers broke into where he was staying in the lakeshore town of Entebbe, near the capital Kampala, stealing cash, mobile telephones and his computer.
The robbers passed images on the laptop to the newspaper, later prompting police to arrest Randall, including taking him for a medical examination to "check" his homosexuality.
Randall, who has two grown-up daughters, said he came on holiday to enjoy Uganda during the cold winter months in Britain.
"Uganda is a wonderful country," he said. "The situation I face breaks my heart."
Uganda has repeatedly cracked down on gay activists, and proposed legislation -- stalled but still awaiting hearing before parliament -- would see the death penalty imposed for certain homosexual acts if passed.
Although legislators have said the bill could be changed, in its current form, anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts for the second time, or engaging in gay sex where one partner is a minor or has HIV, would be sentenced to death.
In January, Uganda dropped charges against British theatre producer David Cecil, who was arrested after being accused of staging a play about gay people in the country without proper authorisation.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iQ3QkFmk91uqZ4KUU1KACLik6aUw?docId=bc0daba0-6884-42ad-b000-b89f36e37e23

British national charged over homosexuality in Uganda

Entebbe

A British national has been charged with using money to lure youth into homosexuality.
Mr Bernard Randell, a retired banker, appeared before the Entebbe Magistrates Court yesterday where he admitted to engaging in homosexuality but only in the UK. His co-accused, Mr Albert Chepeoyek, with whom he lives in Katabi village, Entebbe Municipality, however, denied the charges that included committing acts of gross indecency and trafficking obscene materials.

State prosecutor Ivan Kyazze told court that the duo performed homosexual acts on Mr Eric Bugembe, a special hire driver, in September in exchange for money. “Medical tests were carried out on the two suspects and confirmed that they were engaging in homosexual acts,” Mr Kyazze told court the packed court.

According to detectives who have been following the case, Mr Randell reported Mr Wasswa to Entebbe Police Post after he allegedly stole his laptop. However, when the special hire driver was interrogated, he revealed how he had been forced to grab the laptop after Mr Randell failed to pay him despite luring him into homosexual acts.

Man given bail
The lawyer of the accused, Ms Annette Adamia, asked court to grant them bail as investigations into the case continue. Despite protests from the prosecutor that the suspects could lure more people into the practice, magistrate Hellen Ajio went ahead and granted them bail of Shs1.5 million each while their sureties were bonded at Shs500,000.

They are expected back in court on November 15. Mr Abdullah Ndere, the manager Uganda Tours and Travel and Mr Wilfred Kirumira,40, stood surety for Mr Randell while Mr Norman Mugisha and Ms Aisha Nabukeera stood surety for Mr Chepeoyek.

The magistrate also cautioned the suspects against engaging in acts that corrupt morals while on bail.
Same-sex relationships are currently illegal in Uganda—as they are in many sub-Saharan African countries—punishable by incarceration in prison for up to 14 years.

In Uganda, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill tabled in Parliament souhtto introduce a death penalty for people who are considered serial offenders, are suspected of “aggravated homosexuality” and are HIV-positive, or who engage in sexual acts with those under 18 years of age.

The Bill received significant criticism from many Western governments some of whom threatened to cut off financial aid to Uganda. The bill has since been shelved.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/British-national-charged-over-homosexuality/-/688334/2044578/-/15mutnv/-/index.html

Kadaga Blasts Canadian Minister Over Homosexuality

Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on Monday defended the country’s stance on homosexuality, saying Uganda would not accept being bulldozed to permit this sexual orientation. 

Drama started unfolding when Canada Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird abandoned host-country niceties Monday as he leveled a blistering attack against the human rights records of Iran, Syria and Uganda before some 1,400 international parliamentarians gathered for the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Quebec.

Iranian and Ugandan delegates at the IPU assembly, including the African nation’s Speaker of Parliament, protested Baird’s remarks, accusing the minister of meddling in their sovereign affairs at a collegial forum.

Even though the Conservative government has cut off diplomatic relations with Iran and Syria in particular, it could do little to stop the presence of legislators from those countries at the 127th conference of the IPU, which Canada is hosting this year.

Metro News is reporting Baird embraced that bit of awkwardness, seizing on the IPU assembly’s theme this year: respect for diversity.

The IPU’s mandate includes the promotion of human rights and democracy, but its members still include nations such as North Korea and Cuba.

“Sadly, there are forces of evil in this world that use our differences as weapons of hate, weapons of hate that marginalize minorities,” Baird said.

“This is where we as free societies, I believe, have a tremendously important role to play.”

Baird encouraged the legislators to tell their respective parliaments to support Canada’s United Nations resolution each year condemning Iran’s human rights record. He cited examples of violence against religious minorities.

“There’s a great principle at stake. While Canada prizes engagement and open relations, there can be no engagement with a regime that dishonours its word, repudiates its commitments and threatens to perpetuate crimes against humanity,” Baird said of Iran.

“This regime stands for everything we parliamentarians should stand against.”

Baird also took on the Ugandan government again for its treatment of gays and lesbians. He mentioned the case of a young activist who was recently beaten to death.

The criticism didn’t sit well with the speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, who asked for the opportunity to respond. She spoke of Baird’s “arrogance” and “ignorance” and demanded an apology.

“If homosexuality is a value for the Canadian people, that’s not a problem for us, that’s it’s issue, but one shouldn’t force Ugandans to accept homosexuality because we’re not Canadian citizens,” Kadaga said to applause from the floor.

 “We have our problems, they have theirs.”

The Uganda Parliament is debating a proposed legislation that seeks tough penalties for aggravated homosexual convicts.

Ndorwa West MP David Bahati says his private members’ bill seeks to safeguard the country’s moral fabric, the traditional family setting and humanity from extinction.

However, the legislator has since come under fire from pro-gay activists who claim the Bill will violate the human rights of homosexuals.

The small Iranian delegation held up the sign bearing their country’s name during Baird’s speech in protest.

Iraj Nadimi, chairman of the executive council of Iran’s inter-parliamentary group, asked reporters whether Canada would like it if Iran began wading into its domestic affairs, such as Quebec sovereignty.

“This is not the place for that, that we are asking for the independence of people who are requesting independence in Quebec,” Nadimi said through an interpreter.

“We are saying that every country has its own regulations for itself, so we cannot receive any interference from any country and we don’t interfere in another country’s affairs.”

“Sometimes the truth hurts,” Baird said later.

“I know staying silent is never an option when people stone women, when they hang gays, when they incite genocide, when they say they want to wipe the Jewish people and the Jewish state off the map, when they dishonour their UN obligations, when they spread hateful and racist rhetoric.”

The IPU is the oldest multilateral organization in the world, predating the League of Nations and the United Nations. Canada has been a member for 100 years.http://www.chimpreports.com/index.php/news/6551-kadaga-blasts-canadian-minister-over-homosexuality.html

Ugandan Hang the Gays Giles Muhame Admits Wrong and Regret

But fails to apologize to the gays and does nothing to make amends to the LGBTI community in Uganda

By Melanie Nathan, Oct 10, 2012

In a self serving speech to a journalism class, Giles Muhame, the ex-editor of the Ugandan Rolling Stone Magazine, makes an admission of causing harm to gays and notes his regret for the “Hang the gays” article that he procured back in 2010.
Muhame wrote an article outing and exposing 100 gays in Uganda by showing their photographs and depicting a hang rope with the notation “Hang them!” This caused untold harm and some gay Ugandans were beaten, arrested and others fled the country.http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2012/10/10/ugandan-hang-the-gays-giles-muhame-admits-wrong-and-regret/

Clinton hails gay rights activists in wary Uganda

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday praised activists who opposed a tough draft law in Uganda targeting gays and lesbians, calling them an inspiration for others struggling to secure equal rights around the world.
Clinton presented a coalition of Ugandan rights groups with the State Department's 2011 Human Rights Defender Award, a signal to African and Islamic nations that Washington will not backtrack in its fight against the legal and political persecution of homosexuals.
"It is critical for all Ugandans - the government and citizens alike - to speak out against discrimination, harassment, and intimidation of anyone. That's true no matter where they come from, what they believe, or whom they love," Clinton said.
Clinton said she raised the issue in talks on Friday with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whose government has been accused of allowing political and religious leaders to drum up anti-gay feeling in the deeply conservative East African nation.
"You are a model for others and an inspiration for the world," Clinton said to representatives of the group, formed in 2009 to combat draft legislation which proposed the death penalty for anyone convicted of "aggravated homosexuality".
The bill, which spurred a global outcry, stalled in parliament but has been reintroduced in a watered down form by a member of Museveni's party.
The new version dropped the death sentence, but would still outlaw the "promotion" of gay rights and punish anyone who "funds, sponsors or abets homosexuality".
Clinton's strong expression of support for Uganda's beleaguered gay community came as she continued a seven-nation trip across Africa.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/03/us-uganda-clinton-idUSBRE8721FH20120803

Ugandan Parliament Should Reject Anti-Homosexuality Bill

PRESS STATEMENT ON ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL

Uganda: Parliament Should Reject Anti-Homosexuality Bill

On Tuesday 7th February 2012, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2009) was reintroduced to the Parliament of Uganda. If passed, this draft legislation would violate the human rights of all Ugandans, and should immediately be dropped, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP), Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), The Human Rights Centre Uganda (HRCU), and Human Rights Network-Uganda (HURINET) said today.

Hon. David Bahati’s widely condemned private member’s bill is one of ten bills saved and reintroduced from the previous Parliament. The bill had its first reading on 7^th February 2012 and was referred to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee for scrutiny. It is understood that the bill was re-tabled in its original form but that amendments recommended by the Committee last year will be incorporated. Although Hon. Bahati is reported in the media to have said that the death penalty for ‘serial’ acts of homosexuality will be dropped, this is not yet confirmed. EHAHRDP, FHRI, HRCU and HURINET express their concern at the lack of clarity surrounding the parliamentary process and contents of the bill, and call on Parliament to clarify on this matter.
http://www.hrcug.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=148:press-statement-on-anti-homosexuality-bill&catid=44:news&Itemid=180&date=2012-08-01 

Uganda: Government raid on LGBT-rights workshop | Amnesty International

Uganda: Government raid on LGBT-rights workshop | Amnesty International

The world must know and act against this impunity by the government of Uganda, fundamental human rights are not negotiable. 

Uganda making life tough for NGOs, LGBT rights by

By

 Maria Burnett 

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Uganda has made the news in recent months over issues like the Ebola virus, Joseph Kony, and the notorious anti-homosexuality law known as the “kill the gays bill.” Less-well-known has been its longstanding patterns of torture and mistreatment of detainees by security forces.

President Yoweri Museveni and the ruling National Resistance Movement have been in power for more than 25 years, with a 2005 constitutional amendment lifting presidential term limits and permitting him to run and win in 2006, and then again, heavily assisted by off-budget spending from state coffers, in 2011.

Since 2011, Museveni has faced increasing criticism for economic woes, corruption, unemployment, rising HIV rates and deteriorating health and education services. In April 2011, demonstrators “walked to work” to protest raising food and fuel prices. The military and police took to the streets, using live ammunition and killing at least nine bystanders and beating journalists documenting the events. The government has routinely blocked demonstrations in the last few years, contending that they threaten public safety.

The president appears to be preparing to run again in 2016 – which would be his 30th year in office – and it seems no coincidence that in the wake of growing public grievances, the ruling party’s officials are scrutinizing nongovernmental organizations and the impact they have on public perceptions of governance and management of public funds.

Organizations working on human rights, land acquisitions, oil revenue transparency, and other sensitive issues are the main targets, and apparently viewed as a threat to the administration’s interests. Uganda’s laws reflect this analysis. The intelligence agencies are legally mandated to monitor civil society, and the president’s office has a role in reviewing requests to do research, via the Uganda Council on Science and Technology.

Over the last two years, Ugandan officials have reportedly closed civil society meetings and workshops, reprimanded organizations for their research, demanded retractions or apologies, and confiscated t-shirts, calendars and training materials with messaging about political change and “people’s power.” The government board mandated to regulate civil society recently recommended dissolving one group unless it apologized for bringing “the person of the president into disrepute” and has stated that  working in coalitions is unlawful.

At the same time the government’s hostility to, and harassment of, Uganda’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community continues unabated. Government officials demonize homosexuality, deliberately misinform the public, and stir hatred. One minister uses “the promotion of homosexuality” – a spurious claim – as justification for his campaign against any group seeking to protect the rights of LGBT people. He told me that the pursuit of LGBT rights is a Western conspiracy aimed at destroying Uganda.

While homosexual sex is illegal in Uganda, it is not illegal to discuss LGBT issues, despite the deeply misguided anti-gay bill still pending before parliament. Groups focused on fighting for the rights of LGBT people therefore have every legal right to register and operate. But in practice, that remains far from possible. While many interpret the government’s increasing focus on homosexuality as a populist strategy to gain support, it is still profoundly dangerous for a community that is vulnerable to harassment and violence.

Donors need to ask tough questions about where Uganda is heading, given the deteriorating situation for civil society. Furthermore, in today’s Uganda, government institutions have little independence to perform their constitutionally mandated jobs, corruption is rife, and protecting the ruling party and the president from criticism has become more important than citizens’ right to information. Fundamental democratic guarantees such as freedom of expression and association should not take a back seat to security interests. Ultimately, this is the lesson of the Arab spring.

Until Ugandan civil society is free to research, publish, speak out, debate and advocate for change without fear, durable security will remain out of reach.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/08/30/uganda-making-life-tough-ngos-lgbt-rights

Maria Burnett is a senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch.