In 2007, members of CPT’s Great Lakes team met with David
Kato and two of his colleagues at Sexual Minorities Uganda. His murder on 26 January 2011 is a
significant loss to the LGBT community in East Africa. Kato was an outspoken activist and
faced numerous threats to his life, the most recent after he successfully sued
a Kampala newspaper for publishing his (and others’) photos with a message that
they should be hanged. His funeral
took place on 28 January. An
obituary is available here.
Messages of support and solidarity for SMUG can be sent to advocacy@sexualminoritiesuganda.org.
CPT has maintained contact with
SMUG since the team’s earlier visit.
A Human Rights Watch release about the murder notes,
“Kato was the advocacy officer for the organization Sexual Minorities
Uganda. He had been a leading voice in the fight against the Anti-Homosexuality
Bill,
which has been before Uganda’s parliament since October 15, 2009. While homosexual sex is already illegal
in Uganda, the proposed law would criminalize all homosexuality, making it
punishable by a fine and life imprisonment. ‘Repeat offenders’ and those who are HIV positive would be
subject to the death penalty. The bill would also oblige anyone with knowledge
of someone who is or might be a homosexual to report that person to the police
within twenty-four hours.”
The police deny his murder has any relation to his sexual
orientation or activism.
Please take the time to write to the authorities below
(particularly the Inspector General of Police) urging a full and impartial
investigation into his death and demanding that his queer friends and
colleagues be given the protection they deserve as many of them continue to
receive death threats. In your letter, feel free to also address your concerns
regarding the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
Fax: + 256 414 343 088 Salutation: Dear Minister Ambassade de la République de l’Ouganda; Rue Antoine Carteret 6bis; 1202 Genève. Fax: 022 340 70 30 E-mail: mission.uganda@ties.itu.ch Also, in Canada: Uganda High Commission in Canada 231 Cobourg Street Ottawa, Ontario K1N 8J2 CANADA
Tel: 613.789.7797 Fax: 613.789.8909 Email: uhc@ugandahighcommission.com
and in the USA
His Excellency Professor Perezi K. Kamunanwire Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary pkamunanwire@ugandaembassyus.org