Uganda’s increasingly anti-gay mindset has been a focus of global conversation for months now, especially in the wake of their new extreme anti-gay law that punishes those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” with anywhere from 14 years to life in prison. Now reports have surfaced alleging that Ugandan police recently raided the Makerere University Walter Reed Project in the Ugandan capital of Kampala for “training youths in homosexuality.”
According to the Associated Press, the HIV/AIDS clinic, which is a nonprofit partnership between a Ugandan university and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program, was raided on Thursday and resulted in the arrest of one staff member, a Ugandan citizen.
Frank Mugisha, a gay leader in Uganda, said the project was known to offer services to gay citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS.
“A lot of LGBTI people found it comfortable to go there for anti-retroviral treatment,” he said.
However, Uganda’s new anti-gay bill applies not only to sexual acts between two consenting adult men but also acts involving someone with HIV.
The project released a statement today announcing that it was suspending its activities in Uganda until further notice.
“We are working with police to understand the circumstances under which this person was detained,” the statement said. “Until we have greater clarity as to the legal basis for the police action, the operations of the program are temporarily suspended to ensure the safety of staff and the integrity of the program.”
Patrick Onyango, spokesperson for the Ugandan police, has denied that the raid ever happened, telling the Associated Press, “Yesterday somebody claiming to be a police officer went and arrested one of the workers there. Today the management of [the project] has decided to close the place. We are not investigating that place at all.”
However, government spokesman Ofwono Opondo told a different story about what happened.
And according to Maria Burnett, a Uganda researcher with Human Rights Watch, the Ugandan government is now setting the tone, more so than it already has, about their plans in handling the LGBT community.
“The Ministry of Health keeps reassuring everyone that the (new anti-gay) law will not result in discrimination and stigma in access to health care services and research,” Burnett said. “But yesterday’s events clearly contradict that. How can Ugandans seek what should be confidential medical services when police appear without a legal basis and question and detain staff?”
We couldn’t agree more with Burnett and it’s an absolute shame that the Ugandan government has basically sanctioned a nationwide witch hunt of all LGBT people as well as those living with HIV/AIDS. – nicholas robinson
