Rights body accuses Uganda of cyber harassment of gays

Online attacks on Uganda’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) communities have increased due to overly broad laws that criminalize their identity and promote discrimination, according to a new report released by Amnesty International on Wednesday.

The report titled ‘Everyone has two lives here or phones: the devastating impact of criminalization on digital spaces for LGBTQ people in Uganda’ details widespread patterns of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TfGBV), including doxing, blackmail and impersonation . and disinformation. According to the report, these online abuses further marginalize LGBTQ+ people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The report attributes this to the enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) 2023, which the report says has escalated violence and fostered a climate of impunity that is forcing LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations to change the way they interact online .

“Stigma, violence and discrimination that LGBTQ+ activists and organizations face offline are reflected and amplified in digital spaces,” said Shreshtha Das, gender researcher and advisor to Amnesty International.

She adds that the consequences of TfGBV extend beyond the digital domain, leading to arbitrary arrests, forced evictions, job layoffs and even physical violence. Mental health impacts, including anxiety and depression, are also common among victims, the report said.

Amnesty International’s research, which includes 64 interviews with LGBTQ+ people in six Ugandan cities, highlights the inability of Ugandan authorities to prevent or address these abuses. Instead, the report adds, authorities are accused of actively encouraging and condoning such actions, resulting in serious human rights violations.

“Rather than combating TfGBV, Ugandan authorities have put pressure on human rights defenders, sparking a witch hunt against those seen as ‘promoting homosexuality’,” said Marco Perolini, Amnesty International’s Civic Space Policy Advisor .

According to the reports, police and private individuals often use social media platforms to attack LGBTQ+ people, leading to physical violence, blackmail and public outings, and that blackmail remains the most common form of TfGBV, with LGBTQ+ people regularly exposed to online abuse, threats, and job loss. Misinformation portraying LGBTQ+ people as “sexual predators” is reported to be widespread online, exacerbating homophobic and transphobic sentiments.

“Digital spaces, which are crucial for LGBTQ+ communities in Uganda, are no safer than offline environments. In both they face discrimination and violence,” said Roland Ebole, Amnesty International’s Uganda researcher.

Amnesty International also reports that it contacted several government agencies, social media companies (including Meta, TikTok and X) and private organizations, but only Meta and TikTok responded, and their feedback is included in the report.

It adds that despite these dangers, LGBTQ+ people often avoid reporting TfGBV to police for fear of being exposed, blackmailed or arrested, and if they do report they often face further abuse from authorities.

“The Ugandan Parliament must immediately repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 and other laws that criminalize acts that disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ people. The authorities should also establish an independent mechanism to investigate TfGBV and related human rights violations,” Shreshtha Das concluded.

The Ugandan government has always insisted that the law aims to protect Uganda’s values ​​and culture, and that children must be protected from recruitment into homosexual acts.

Local human rights groups, backed by the international community, filed a petition with the Constitutional Court in May challenging the legality of the Anti-Homosexuality Law of 2023, but the court upheld the law.

“We refuse to annul the AHA 2023 in its entirety,” ruled the judges led by Deputy Chief Justice Richard Butera.

“The available evidence is that the Anti-Homosexuality Act was enacted against the backdrop of the recruitment of children into the practice of homosexuality. That is the mischief that section 11 of the law seeks to address,” the court ruled.

The activists had argued in their petitions that the law was passed without adequate and meaningful public participation. The activists further argued that criminalizing consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex in the private sphere violates the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to dignity, the right to liberty and the right to privacy.

However, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law does not allow unlawful entry into buildings by law enforcement authorities.

“We respectfully do not share the view that deriving pleasure from an act would negate its criminality; Otherwise, crimes such as rape would be exempt from crime,” the judges said.

The court further said that the Anti-Homosexuality Law does not violate the right to engage in business and profession and aims to uphold societal morality by restricting the use of the media for publishing or broadcasting objectionable material.

Now Amnesty International says that LGBTQ+ communities rely heavily on digital platforms to connect, share information and advocate for their rights, but with the increasing prevalence of TfGBV there are serious limitations to their access to these vital spaces. It adds that many organizations that provide health services to marginalized groups have stopped advertising their services online, fearing that authorities will accuse them of promoting homosexuality and revoke their registration.

The law also provides for the death penalty for a person who commits the crime of aggravated homosexuality, especially if the act is committed against a child or a person who is disabled, mentally ill, of advanced age or under the influence of medications, drugs and alcohol. .

Aggravated homosexuality also occurs if the perpetrator is a parent, guardian or relative of the person against whom the offense was committed or if the victim contracts a terminal illness as a result of the sexual act, or if the sexual act is committed against a person using threats. violence, fear of bodily harm, coercion or undue influence, intimidation of any kind, or by misrepresenting the nature of the act.

The law has since faced fierce opposition, with local rights groups appealing the Constitutional Court ruling to the Supreme Court, the ruling of which is still unknown. Western partners have also scaled back aid and have since imposed travel bans on key Ugandan figures.