Ugandan gay refugee recounts horror of imprisonment

Robert Segwanyi

By Joe Mirabella, change.org

Robert Segwanyi was scheduled for deportation on August 18,  from the United Kingdom's Heathrow airport. The UK was sending Robert back to Uganda, where he was tortured with molten plastic and imprisoned for being gay.

Robert was spared from deportation at the very last minute according to his friend and fellow gay Ugandan refugee John Bosco:

"[Robert] is back in the detention centre waiting to hear what's next.  He had 5 escorts up to the plane, and as he was about to board the plane the Home Office stopped his deportation.  He is very tired and stressed since he has not been sleeping well.  He is in pain."

John Bosco told me on the phone that Robert has not been eating well and that he was considering suicide.

"Since last Friday, when he was given the deportation notice he stopped eating. He threatened to kill himself, because he has had enough,” said Bosco.

More than 3,500 people signed Paul Canning's Change.org petition asking the Home Office to grant Robert Segwanyi asylum in the UK.

I asked John to make sure Robert knew about the thousands of people fighting for his right to live freely as a gay man in the United Kingdom. John said, "I was overwhelmed with the way people helped him through the petition. I think the petition played a big part in this."

Paul Canning was pleased to hear that Robert would be given more time to make his case, but he is not done working to keep Robert safely in the UK. He may still need your help. He wrote to the people who signed his petition on Change.org, "We won because everybody helped including you, but we won a battle we didn’t win the war. Robert Segwanyi isn’t safe yet, so we may need to come back to you.”

John Bosco

John Bosco told me about life in Uganda and what it was like for him when he was imprisoned for being gay. He said:

"There are no beds in prisons in Uganda -- no mattresses --  just the concrete floor. The prisons are packed. You sleep on one side. You don’t have room to turn around," John recounted.

"There are no toilets, there is no running water. There are buckets where everyone eats. No blankets, no curtains. It is hell. It is even worse than the place that they keep pigs," John explained.

"If they know you are gay, you can get beat up by the other prisoners. You have to stand in a corner because no one wants to be near you. You end up not sleeping almost 24/7 because no one wants to be near you if you are gay, so you can not lie down."

Robert Segwanyi was in a similar prison and was tortured with molten plastic. He has the scars to prove it according to John Bosco:

"He has the marks on him. That’s the way the Ugandan government makes you say things. If they ask you something and you say no, they burn you until you say yes. The pain makes you say yes.”

Life is not even safe for gays if they are free from police custody or prison. The public will beat or even set fire to gay people, "in broad daylight," according to Bosco.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo from the Anglican Church of Uganda, said in a statement:

"Ordinary people are being forced to move because their fellow Ugandans are attacking them: there is a “witch-hunt” atmosphere regarding LGBT in the country which is unfortunately being encouraged by many of my fellow Christian leaders," he said, "It is not safe to return anyone who is LGBT or perceived to be LGBT to Uganda."

What's next for Robert is still unknown. He has thousands of people fighting for him. Paul Canning and John Bosco hope his new application for asylum will allow Robert to be released from detention, and that ultimately the UK's Home Office will do the right thing and let him stay.

Robert is "obviously gay" according to everyone that knows him, but whether officials believe Robert is gay or not is mute at this point. According to John Bosco, because Robert claimed to be gay his life is in danger if he is returned to Uganda. He will face the "witch hunt" described by Bishop Senyonjo.

"Once you claim to be gay you can be arrested in Uganda and be in prison your whole life," John Bosco said.

Change.org protests removal by UK of gay Ugandan Robert Segwanyi

Robert with his partner in Uganda. He doesn't know where his partner is now.

Source: change.org

London, UK - In less than 24 hours, more than 800 people have joined a petition campaign started on Change.org calling on the Home Office to halt the deportation of Robert Segwanyi to Uganda, where he was imprisoned and tortured for being gay.

Segwanyi is scheduled for deportation on Thursday,18 August, 2011 on Kenya Airways KQ410 which leaves Heathrow Airport at 20:00.

“Robert has been badly represented, which is largely why his case has hit a crisis point,” said Paul Canning, a blogger at LGBT Asylum News who launched the campaign on Change.org. “The UK authorities are also being completely unreasonable. There is plenty of evidence Robert is gay and -- of course -- that Uganda is unsafe.”

Uganda’s government continues to threaten gays and lesbians with the infamous “kill the gays” bill, which if passed would make being gay or lesbian a crime punishable by death. While the bill died at the end of the last Parliament in May, Uganda’s government appears willing to resurrect the measure sometime in August.

Gays and lesbians are regularly arrested and tortured in Uganda, and according to LGBT Asylum News Segwanyi was arrested in 2010 and tortured for being gay. He eventually escaped to the United Kingdom, where he applied for asylum two weeks after his arrival.

John Bosco, one of the few gay men to return to the United Kingdom after being deported to Uganda, met Robert before he was in Haslar detention centre (near Portsmouth) and has remained in phone contact.

"It's a really bad time for him and as a gay Ugandan, I know how hard it is to be gay in Uganda as I was arrested and tortured by police,” Bosco told LGBT Asylum News. “Many people have been beaten by the public as soon as you have been labelled being gay. When I was deported by the British, you handed me back to government officers and this is what exactly happened to me. I was beaten up really badly. Robert is in tears and terrified."

A UK immigration judge denied Segwanyi’s asylum appeal, claiming Uganda poses no threat to gays and lesbians.

On Tuesday, Canning started an additional petition on Change.org asking Kenya Airways to refuse to let Segwanyi board his flight. Pilots for Air France refused to fly Joseph Kaute to Cameroon, where he faced five years in prison for being gay. Canning hopes this last-minute campaign will potentially spare Robert’s life.

“I hope Immigration officials do the right thing and let Robert Segwanyi stay in the United Kingdom,” said Paul Canning. “But if they don’t, then I hope Kenya Airways refuses to fly Robert Segwanyi because Robert’s safety is in jeopardy if he is deported to Uganda.”

Paul Canning’s petition on Change.org asking UK officials to let Segwanyi stay:
http://www.change.org/petitions/save-gay-ugandan-robert-segwanyi

Paul Canning’s petition asking Kenya Airways to refuse to fly Segwanyi:
http://www.change.org/petitions/kenya-airways-stop-removing-gay-asylum-seekers-to-uganda

Paul Canning’s up-to-date reporting about Segwanyi:
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/08/obviously-gay-ugandan-asylum-seeker.html
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/07/uks-removal-of-gay-tortured-imprisoned.html
http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/07/another-arrested-tortured-gay-ugandan.html

Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 400,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country.

Related articles

• Action Alert: Help save gay Ugandan Robert Segwanyi! (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Action Alert: Help save gay Ugandan Robert Segwanyi!

BBC South Today report



UPDATE, 18 September: A number of websites have reported on developments, including Liberal Conspiracy and LibDem Voice.


UPDATE, 14 September: Robert's case will be in court 4 2 October.


UPDATE, 12 September: Robert was released from detention last week. We now know why. His case was accepted as not being suitable for the fast track and this was 'due to complexity and merits of the case' - a complete turn around in attitude. His asylum application is still refused but has been accepted as a fresh claim with a right of appeal. Robert's lawyers have now lodged an appeal and are awaiting a Notice of Hearing with the appeal date.

This would not be happening if a campaign had not happened for Robert. He would be on a plane to Uganda and we would be organising protection from violence and extortion at the airport and then a safe house. Despite that he could have been picked up police and re-imprisoned. LGBT Asylum News thanks everyone who has helped and pays tribute to the office of Mike Hancock MP and Ugandan refugee John Bosco in particular.


UPDATE, 5 September: Robert has been released from detention. He was not given a reason. He has been told to report weekly to a police station.

UPDATE, 1 September: An appeal has gone in today. For more on the latest from the Home Office see 'How the Home Office is misusing law in gay Ugandan asylum seeker case'.


UPDATE, 26 August: The fresh representations including new evidence, Bishop Senyonjo's statement, MPs statement etc., have been refused by the Home Office.

A legal appeal is being prepared.

Robert's case has been published in the Ugandan media.


UPDATE, 18 August:  7.15pm - We won.

Robert's removal was deferred by the Home Office in a message to his lawyer less than a hour before he was due to be flown to Kampala. An earlier request to a judge for an injunction to stop the removal was refused.

This is a battle victory - but we have not won the war. The Home Office can still refuse to accept the fresh evidence and his asylum claim and issue new removal instructions. However his supporters will fight this and will argue that Robert's mental state and his post-traumatic stress means he should be released from detention, as well as that his claim must be given a proper hearing.

Statement by Mike Hancock MP.

~~~~~

Robert's removal has been confirmed by Home Office.


Fresh legal representations for Robert have been made

New media coverage on Japanese TV, BBC, Huffington Post (front page), pinknews.co.uk, Miami Herald, Advocate and Portsmouth local radio.

Petition over 3,500.

Kenya Airways is refusing to respond to any inquiries regarding Robert.


UPDATE, 17 August: Fresh legal representations for Robert are to be made tomorrow. As of the end of today the petition to the Home Secretary is now over 3,200, to Kenya Airways over 500.

Gay Kenya has tried to get a response from Kenya Airways. They said:

'Sorry, we cannot do that. The flight has already been booked and we are not the ones who did it. You should be asking those in charge of that case.' Dead line.

New media coverage in Sydney Star Observer, Liberal Conspiracy, Eklesia, Xtra, San Diego Gay and Lesbian News and change.org.

Mike Hancock MP has issued a new press release, drawing attention to the evidence of Robert being tortured and to the statement that it is unsafe to return Robert, made by Bishop Senyonjo.

Said Hancock:

"As with all my constituents all I want is proper consideration of their case and the proper laws and regulations applied. It is very clear that they haven’t been properly applied in Mr Segwanyi’s case and I hope that his lawyers can now challenge this and get proper legal consideration. Amazingly and bizarrely the Home Office still say there is no persecution of gay men in Uganda, both now and when Mr Segwanyi was in Uganda when their own country report flatly contradicts this. Looking at the case overall, I have massive concerns about the case and I also believe that Mr Segwanyi’s case “stacks up” and I don’t say either of these things lightly. As the Bishop says, it would now be dangerous to deport Mr Segwani and this is shown by what happened to John Bosco Nyombi."

UPDATE, 16 August: Over 750 have now signed the petition. The flight information is 8pm, 18 August Kenya Airways KQ410. Petition targeting Kenya Airways.

pinknews has published a new story - this is in addition to previous media coverage.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo has put forward a statement which says:

"The situation of LGBT in Uganda is dire and getting worse. People are being attacked, harassed and we face the revival of the Anti-Homosexuality bill in the Parliament."

"Ordinary people are being forced to move because their fellow Ugandans are attacking them: there is a 'witch-hunt' atmosphere regarding LGBT in the country which is unfortunately being encouraged by many of my fellow Christian leaders."

...

"It is not safe to return anyone who is LGBT or perceived to be LGBT to Uganda."

~~

Robert Segwanyi

Robert Segwanyi is a Ugandan gay asylum seeker who was jailed and tortured yet the UK Border Agency wants to remove him this Thursday, 18 August.

This is despite evidence that Robert is "obviously gay", despite a highly respected psychologist Professor Cornelius Katona saying he is gay and suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from his treatment in Uganda, and despite the backing of Robert's MP, Mike Hancock.

Please help by signing the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/save-gay-ugandan-robert-segwanyi or by contacting Home Secretary Theresa May personally. And by passing on this message to your friends and contacts.

The UKBA, in writing to Hancock, is standing by an Immigration Judge's decision last year that:

"Even if I am wrong regarding the Appellant's homosexuality I see no reason to depart from the [then] current country guidance" - this guidance being that "the evidence does not establish that in general there is persecution of homosexuality (sic) in Uganda".

This country guidance was changed in April and now reflects the actual situation for gays in Uganda.

Ugandan gay refugee John Bosco met Robert before he was in Haslar detention centre near Portsmouth and has remained in phone contact. He says:

"Robert is in tears and terrified."

"It's a really bad time for him and as a gay Ugandan, I know how hard it is to be gay in Uganda as I was arrested and tortured by police. Many people have been beaten by the public as soon as you have been labelled being gay. When I was deported by the British, you handed me back to government officers and this is what exactly happened to me. I was beaten up really badly. "

"I was lucky that I had friends here in UK who gave me some money which I used to bribe the police, but Robert doesn't have many friends as he has not been here long enough to make friends and most of the time he has been in detention centres."

John says:

"When I met him face to face, it was obvious that Robert is gay. The way he was talking, the mannerism and mentioning some of Ugandan gay guys I from Uganda. Robert told me what he has been through and from my experience I knew it did happen to him as it happened to me when people in Uganda came to know about my sexuality."

Some of Robert's scars

UK Border Agency are refusing to accept John's evidence as new as well as other evidence on the deteriorating conditions for LGBT in Uganda.

He has been refused a fair consideration of his case. His campaigners are supporting him in keeping him safe in the UK. We are urging the Home Secretary to re-examine his case and give him protection in the UK.

• Sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/save-gay-ugandan-robert-segwanyi

You can contact the Home Secretary at:

Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Department,
2 Marsham St
London SW1 4DF
Fax: 020 7035 4745
mayt@parliament.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk

Please don't forget to quote Robert's Home Office reference number which is # S1457269

Thank you.

For further information or media enquiries contact:

Paul Canning, Editor, LGBT Asylum News
gayasylumuk@gmail.com

OR

John Bosco
nyjbosco2003@yahoo.co.uk

OR

Mike Hancock CBE MP
email@mikehancock.co.uk
023 92 861055

Related articles

• 'Obviously gay' Ugandan asylum seeker faces removal by UK Wednesday (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• UK's removal of gay tortured, imprisoned Ugandan stopped at last moment (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Another arrested, tortured gay Ugandan that Britain wants to deport (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

'Obviously gay' Ugandan asylum seeker faces removal by UK Wednesday

Robert with his partner in Uganda. He doesn't know where his partner is now.

By Paul Canning

New updates continue here.

Update, 15 August: Robert has new removal instructions for Thursday 18 August. His lawyer is preparing another possible claim.

• You can help. See the action alert.

Update, 11 August: pinknews.co.uk, LibDem Voice, ILGA, Portsmouth local newspaper The News and now widely circulating The Advocate in the US have reported on Robert's case.

Update, 10 August: Robert's removal has been "deferred" pending consideration of his fresh claim for asylum.

Updated to add: Mike Hancock MP has issued a strong statement expressing "grave concern" and citing issues with the case including:

"Continued old-fashioned attitudes by immigration judges and a system that does not allow for the extreme nervousness that LGBT people may have in admitting their sexuality to people in authority following their experiences."

A Ugandan asylum seeker described by those who have met him as 'obviously gay' faces removal this Wednesday after the acting head of the UK Border Agency (UKBA), Jonathan Sedgwick, personally rejected an appeal by LiberalDemocrat Mike Hancock MP. A 'fresh claim' for asylum is to be put in today by his lawyer.

Sedgwick's letter reiterates what an immigration judge said regarding Robert Segwanyi last November. Judge Hembrough wrote that:

"Even if I am wrong regarding the Appellant's homosexuality I see no reason to depart from the [then] current country guidance" - this guidance being that "the evidence does not establish that in general there is persecution of homosexuality (sic) in Uganda".

This country guidance was changed in February and now reflects the actual situation for gays in Uganda.

In particular it points out that:

"Amnesty’s 2010 Report 'I Can’t Afford Justice' published on 6 April 2010 commented “…section 145 of the Penal Code Act has been and continues to be used by the police and other law enforcement officials to subject lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Uganda to arbitrary arrest and detention often resulting in torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” [10b] This comment is contrary to that made by UHRC at 19.04 and should be considered accordingly. [This means that this information should be prioritised over prior information.]"

Sedgwick's letter claims that Hancock's pointing to the murder of David Kato earlier this year as 'new evidence' is irrelevant as he claims that Segwanyi would "keep his sexual orientation secret for reasons other than fear of persecution in Uganda." This reiterates the judge's hedging of 'even if I am wrong and he is gay ...'

According to those who have met him, Robert is 'obviously gay'.

Ugandan refugee John Bosco met Segwanyi before he was in Haslar detention centre near Portsmouth. He says:

"When I met him face to face, it was obvious that Robert is gay. The way he was talking, the mannerism and mentioning some of Ugandan gay guys I from Uganda. Robert told me what he has been through and from my experience I knew it did happen to him as it happened to me when people in Uganda came to know about my sexuality."

Anne Dickinson of Haslar Visitor's Group said that they knew immediately that Robert was gay, before he told them, but they didn't want to say anything.

Says Bosco:

"Robert wanted to talk to them but he found it hard to talk about it in front of others listening. So he waited until one went to the kitchen and talked about it. Then when I met Robert I asked how he felt about it afterwards. He was scared to death thinking he has blown off his chance as he will never be allowed to go back to the drop-in as this has been happening where ever he mentions that he is gay. He was then shocked to hear that this time someone listened to him. Robert is so vulnerable as he finds it hard to express himself because of English language. He can speak English but not good enough to express his feelings."

Robert was imprisoned and tortured for homosexuality. On escaping prison in June 2010 he fled to the UK and applied for asylum a fortnight later. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) does not accept he is gay and a judge rejected his appeal claiming that there is no risk to gay people in Uganda.

Hancock's letter demanded that Robert be given enough time to put in for judicial review - because, he explained in some detail, previous judicial dismissal of Robert's case appeared to be unsafe.

In particular he pointed to immigration judge Hembrough's treatment of the evidence of Professor Cornelius Katona, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Emeritus professor of Psychiatry in the University of Kent, Honorary Professor in the Department of Mental Health Sciences at University College London and author of over 300 expert medical reports. (We detailed other problems with both judge Hembrough's as well as the UKBA's treatment of Robert.)

Hancock pointed to the judge's statement in his ruling that Prof. Katona did not consider Mr Segwani to be gay - yet Prof. Katona has said that this is "with respect, incorrect".

Hembrough said he had “considerable doubts as to whether” Segwanyi was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) – despite Prof. Katona saying that it would not even be possible for professional actors to fake PTSD symptoms in a way that Segwanyi did.

The treatment of Katona's evidence demands judicial review, Hancock says. But Sedgwick's letter rejects any need to reassess the judge's decision.

In total, Sedgwick backs the judge and rejects Hancock's assessment that the judge's findings about Segwanyi being interviewed in English, his PSTD and his homosexuality:

"Are at best based on somewhat prejudiced views and not in line with the evidence. Indeed if Mr Segwanyi had wanted to mislead the immigration authorities he would surely have acted in a different way."

Related articles

• UK's removal of gay tortured, imprisoned Ugandan stopped at last moment (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Deportation of Uganda Gay Robert Segwanyi deferred as about to Board Plane (oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com)
• Another arrested, tortured gay Ugandan that Britain wants to deport (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Lesbian Ugandan 'BN' wins judicial review of asylum case (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• The tortured Ugandan lesbian the UK wants to send back (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

UK's removal of gay tortured, imprisoned Ugandan stopped at last moment

Robert Segwanyi

By Paul Canning

• New updates are here. 

The removal of Ugandan gay asylum seeker Robert Segwanyi was tonight "deferred" at the last minute. He had been moved today to a Heathrow 'removal centre' for an early morning 11 July flight to Kampala.

The deferment comes after the last minute intervention of Segwanyi's MP, Mike Hancock, as well as the MEP Michael Cashman. Many concerned people also wrote the British Home Secretary Theresa May over the past few days.

A new lawyer had been found today for Robert - who has been badly represented previously - but he did not have enough time in which to submit a judicial review application.

Robert was imprisoned and tortured for homosexuality. On escaping prison in June 2010 he fled to the UK and applied for asylum a fortnight later. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) does not accept he is gay and a judge rejected his appeal claiming that there is no risk to gay people in Uganda.

Hancock's letter demanded that Robert be given enough time to put in for judicial review - because, he explained in some detail, previous judicial dismissal of Robert's case appeared to be unsafe.

In particular he pointed to immigration judge Hembrough's treatment of the evidence of Professor Cornelius Katona, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Emeritus professor of Psychiatry in the University of Kent, Honorary Professor in the Department of Mental Health Sciences at University College London and author of over 300 expert medical reports. (Katona's evidence wasn't available on Friday when we detailed other problems with both judge Hembrough's as well as the UKBA's treatment of Robert.)

Hancock pointed to the judge's statement in his ruling that Prof. Katona did not consider Mr Segwani to be gay - yet Prof. Katona has said that this is "with respect, incorrect".

Hembrough said he had “considerable doubts as to whether” Segwanyi was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) – despite Prof. Katona saying that it would not even be possible for professional actors to fake PTSD symptoms in a way that Segwanyi did.

The treatment of Katona's evidence demands judicial review, Hancock says.

Further, he points out that Theresa May has said that "cases involving LGBT will be reviewed before final deportation." And Hancock wants an answer to his suggestion:

"That this case shows that the UKBA and the Home Office are institutionally homophobic and there should be better consideration of this case so that it can demonstrate that it is not."

Mike Hancock MP

Hancock notes that the judge's determination in November was:

"Even if I am wrong regarding the Appellant's homosexuality I see no reason to depart from the [then] current country guidance" - this guidance being that "the evidence does not establish that in general there is persecution of homosexuality (sic) in Uganda".

When, Hancock says, the situation for LGBT in Uganda was widely reported as worsening.

He notes that Professor Katona says that

"Mr Segwani's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [means that] there is a strong possibility that his high levels of fear and stress may have led to his assenting to be interviewed in English without taking fully into account the disadvantages of doing so." 

Robert's prior argument was that the 'credibility' issues raised by UKBA were due to the interviewer mixing up his statements about his past relationships - and Prof. Katona says that Robert's understanding of English was poor and his spoken English also "very limited". The judge dismissed this evidence.

When Robert's case was last dismissed by UKBA 21 January reiterating the judge's ruling, Prof. Katona said:

"This assessment appears however to have ignored my expert clinical assessment."

Commenting on the judge's decision, Hancock quotes the Public Law Project:

"Public bodies must correctly understand and apply the law that regulates their decision making powers. An action or decision may be unlawful if the decision maker had no power to make it or exceeded the powers given to him/her. Four kinds of illegal activity may be identified:...[including] taking irrelevant factors into account or failing to take account of all relevant factors."

Hancock writes that Hembrough's findings about Segwanyi being interviewed in English, his PSTD and his homosexuality:

"Are at best based on somewhat prejudiced views and not in line with the evidence. Indeed if Mr Segwanyi had wanted to mislead the immigration authorities he would surely have acted in a different way."

Hancock quotes from Stonewall's Report 'No Going Back' that "some appeal judges' attitudes to LGBT are "old-fashioned"." And he highlights a quote from the report from another Ugandan asylum seeker who said:

"My lawyer asked whether I could change my case and claim on political grounds instead. She said it's hard to represent me properly with the case of being gay."

Related articles

• UK to Deport Uganda Gay Man, Robert Segwanyi, despite Torture and Risk to his Life (oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com)
• Is it getting worse for UK LGBT asylum seekers? (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Another arrested, tortured gay Ugandan that Britain wants to deport

Robert Segwanyi

By Paul Canning

• News updates are here. 

Edited to add: Robert's removal was stopped at the last minute.

Robert Segwanyi is a Gay Ugandan man imprisoned and tortured for homosexuality and who on escaping in June 2010 fled to the UK and applied for asylum a fortnight later.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) does not accept he is gay and a judge rejected his appeal claiming that there is no risk to gay people in Uganda. They plan to remove him to Uganda on Tuesday, 12 July.

• Scroll to bottom to see how you can support Robert

In February 2010 Robert was arrested in Uganda because, he believes, someone found out about his last relationship and informed the police.

Whilst in prison he was tortured - beaten with electric wires, sticks and metal objects. One day whilst he was working in a prison detail at a sugar plantation he managed to escape. Hiding under foliage in the sugar cane field, he managed to escape detection. As he was wearing a prison uniform, he stole some clothes and managed to make his way to a friend's house. Three weeks later after his friend had organised travel including a visitor's visa he got on a plane for London.

After he arrived his possessions including his passport were stolen. An African man took pity on him and after a fortnight took him to the Border Agency office in Croydon and told him to explain his situation.

Robert has been badly legally represented but photographic evidence was submitted from a previous boyfriend. A new witness to Robert's sexuality has come forward and the Ugandan gay refugee advocate John Bosco, who has become friends with Robert and has also made a statement, said:

"We talk about how good looking other men are. The expression on his face when he looked at some men made it obvious he is gay."

Robert and John also shared recollections of venues in Kampala.
 
Bosco says that what Robert has gone through was not "news to my ear" but typical of how Uganda treats gay people. The way Robert talks and his mannerisms would immediately put him at risk in Uganda, Bosco says:

"I’m terribly worried about Robert’s life if he is deported back to Uganda."

The rejection by UKBA of Robert's case follows a similar path to that of other lesbian or gay asylum seekers, where minor discrepancies in testimony are taken to undermine his entire testimony, especially that a person is gay. No translator was provided at Robert's interview with UKBA and no account was taken that he could be suffering from post-traumatic stress. Robert believes that the interviewer had mixed up his statements about his past relationships.

If it is accepted that an asylum applicant is gay then this triggers a series of considerations, so it is unsurprising significant effort was made to deny Robert's sexuality.

In rejecting him, UKBA say it is implausible that Robert managed to escape from prison and that Ugandan authorities would then put a 'wanted' advert in the New Vision newspaper - yet he was able to leave using his passport. The possibility that authorities at Entebbe airport would not necessarily have similar electronic notification of 'wanted' people to those at Heathrow does not occur to this border agent.

On appeal, last November, immigration judge Hembrough had available to him a copy of the wanted notice in New Vision, complete with Robert's picture.

He also had a psychiatrist's report showing that Robert was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Home Office lawyer argued that even if Robert was gay, gay people are not at risk in Uganda.

Hembrough rejected that a fresh interview with an interpreter needed to take place, rejected that he had been tortured and has PTSD and rejected the appeal - in part on the basis of a lack of medical evidence "which might show that the Appellant had engaged in penetrative sexual acts" - and otherwise due to Robert's then lawyer's various failings in sourcing evidence.

Hembrough finds it "implausible" that Robert would not contact his family, who live in a small village, despite the explanation that contact could cause them problems.

Hembrough rejects that Robert is gay due to the apparent mix-up by the interviewer of Robert's account of his relationships, though he accepts that Robert's statements may appear confused because "there is an obvious tendency towards squeamishness when dealing with such matters" (i.e. gay sex), and because in the UK Robert has not "joined any social groups, attended gay bars, clubs and the like."  Hembrough doesn't mention the photographic evidence of Robert's then relationship.

But Hembrough - astonishingly - hedges his bets:

"Even if I am wrong regarding the Appellant's homosexuality I see no reason to depart from the [then] current country guidance" - this guidance being that "the evidence does not establish that in general there is persecution of homosexuality (sic) in Uganda".

Edited to add: The Judge refers to the 'JM' decision on the safety of returning gay people to Uganda, rather than the 'SB' decision which superseded it in February 2010. A similar tactic was used by Home Office lawyers in another Ugandan case in February this year.

Some of Robert's scars

An examination of Robert's scars was only conducted last month under 'rule 35', (which is supposed to ensure that asylum seekers who are torture survivors are not detained, though it rarely does result in anyone being released). Although this did led to Robert's temporary release from detention, unfortunately, Robert's previous lawyer failed to follow up on this report and Robert was swiftly detained again.

News of this new Ugandan gay asylum case which the UK wants to send back comes at we learn of plans to resubmit the infamous 'Kill the gays' bill to the Ugandan Parliament.

Many may say or expect that that law will be unenforced because the current colonial hand-me-down sodomy law is widely believed to be unenforced - but this is untrue.

In rejecting Robert's case (in 2010) the UKBA case officer relied on inaccurate information on whether gays and lesbians are arrested in Uganda - this information has now changed.

Recently updated country guidance for the UK Border Agency quotes the 2009 US State Department human rights report for Uganda saying that "no persons have been charged under the law" (the 2010 report repeats this line).

It also quotes the 12th Annual Report of the Uganda Human Rights Commission to the Parliament of
the Republic of Uganda, covering events in 2009, released in October 2010, which says that "few arrests, prosecutions and convictions have been made under section 145 of the Penal Code Act, which suggests that this law is redundant."

However, citing the most up to date evidence, it also says that:

"Amnesty’s 2010 Report 'I Can’t Afford Justice' published on 6 April 2010 commented “…section 145 of the Penal Code Act has been and continues to be used by the police and other law enforcement officials to subject lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Uganda to arbitrary arrest and detention often resulting in torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” [10b] This comment is contrary to that made by UHRC at 19.04 and should be considered accordingly."

This means that this new information on police treatment of gays in Uganda should be prioritised over prior information

Ugandan activists have reported arrests under the existing law for some time. In her eulogy for the murdered gay activist David Kato earlier this year, Val Kalende noted that Kato had: "visited all of the prisons and police stations where a member (s) of the LGBT community had been arrested or detained."

Ugandan refugees in the UK like John Bosco and Prossy Kakooza both experienced arrest (and torture) by police before 2010.

In a Channel Four documentary 'Africa’s Last Taboo' last year, African journalist Sorious Samura documents in detail the arrest and detention of two gay men in Mbale (a city in southeastern Uganda) under the existing sodomy law.

Barrister S. Chelvan, of London's No5 Chambers, says:

"What they [the police] do is use the law to act with impunity. That's what happens."

Chelvan says there are arrests, detention and torture - but prosecutions generally don't eventuate: "you bribe yourself out." This was John Bosco's experience. Uganda's Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Kale Kayihura, has explained the lack of officially reporting of prosecuted cases as them 'dying a natural death'.

Interference on the question of the existing law's application has been a consistent tactic by anti-gay forces in Uganda. The police itself, in its 2010 police crime report, says that "there were no cases of homosexuality reported in Uganda" (that's the language reported in the Observer newspaper). The leading anti-gay campaigner Pastor Ssempa has claimed that:

"For the last 50 years we’ve had this law, since we’ve had a law against homosexuality, no homosexual has been arrested or killed for homosexuality."

LGBT Asylum News has noted how international media has repeated such claims and other ones, such as the repeated 'concession' by 'Kill the gays' bill author David Bahati MP that the death penalty would be removed and the claims that the bill only pertains to child abuse or sexual assaults.

Yet some comments have made it through which suggest the real motives of the anti-gay forces and what could be the actual impact of the bill's passage into law. On the Christian radio show Michael Brown’s Line of Fire Pastor Julius Oyet, another author of the bill, tells a gay man that he will be arrested when the Anti-Homosexuality law takes effect.

In the documentary 'Uganda: Killing in the name of god' Oyet defends death for gays with his Bible and a Muslim cleric is shown preparing squads to hunt down gays.

And most infamously David Bahati told investigative journalist Jeff Sharlet in an unguarded moment after a long day spent together that he wanted “to kill every last gay person.”

Speaking about the experience to NPR, Sharlet said:

"It was a very chilling moment, because I'm sitting there with this man who's talking about his plans for genocide, and has demonstrated over the period of my relationship with him that he's not some back bencher — he's a real rising star in the movement. This was something that I hadn't understood before I went to Uganda, that this was a guy with real potential and real sway and increasingly a following in Uganda."

Bahati also famously threatened gay British radio star Scott Mills as he was interviewing him for a documentary.

When the presenter said he was gay, Bahati became enraged and the film crew fled.

Later, they heard that Bahati had sent armed police to a hotel he thought they were staying at.

And earlier this year Bahati threatened another Ugandan asylum seeker in the UK, BN. This author witnessed that threat and made a statement to that effect.

Act Now

1) Contact the Home Secretary

• Downloadable and editable sample letter on Google Docs

Rt. Hon Theresa May, MP
Secretary of State for the Home Office,
2 Marsham St London SW1 4DF

Fax: 020 7035 4745
(00 44 20 7035 4745 if you are faxing from outside UK)

Email:
mayt@parliament.uk
UKBApublicenquiries@UKBA.gsi.gov.uk
CITTO@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Related articles

• What happens if Uganda's 'kill the gays' bill passes? How can the World help then? (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• The tortured Ugandan lesbian the UK wants to send back (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Video: 'Getting Out': five LGBT refugee stories from Africa (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• No problems for LGBT in Tanzania according to UK immigration judge (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

In UK, gay and lesbian Ugandan refugees tell their story

John Bosco

Source: The Observer

By Elizabeth Day

As a child in Uganda, John Bosco remembers hearing an old wives' tale that if a man fell asleep in the sun and it crossed over him, he would wake up as a woman. "I used to try that as a kid," says John now, some 30 years later. He sits at a table in a busy cafe across the road from the railway station in Southampton, his fingers playing with the handle of a glass of hot chocolate. "I'd spend all day lying under the sun. From childhood, I wanted to be a girl. I wanted dolls. At school, I played netball. I wanted to dress up like a girl … I rubbed herbs into my chest that were meant to make your breasts grow. I tried everything but it didn't work."

He tells me that there was not one single moment when he realised he was gay; that the knowledge of it had always been there, unexpressed until he found the right words. As he grew older, John started being attracted to men. On the radio, he heard stories of gay couples being beaten and killed by police. He says that if he could have changed himself, he would because he so desperately wanted to be considered "normal", to fit in, to make his family proud.

When he went to university to study for a business administration degree, his relatives and neighbours in Kampala would ask why he never had a girlfriend. "I used lots of excuses – I'm not yet ready, or I have a girlfriend who doesn't live in the same area," he says. "It was difficult because you cannot be open [about your sexuality]. You can't socialise like any other person. A lot of the time, you have to keep your distance. You feel you're not yourself. It makes things really hard."

This is the reality of being gay in modern Uganda, a place where homosexuality is criminalised under the penal code, punishable by life imprisonment. According to human rights organisations, about 500,000 homosexuals live in the country, unable to admit their sexuality for fear of violent retribution either from the police or their own communities. Anti-gay legislation is a relic of British colonialism, designed to punish what the imperial authorities thought of as "unnatural sex" – thinking that was subsequently reinforced by wave upon wave of Catholic missionaries.

Read more »

In US, gay asylum seekers gaining ground?

Image by Matt Algren via Flickr

Source: WGLB

By Kilian Melloy

An American organization that assists GLBT asylum seekers reports that it helped a record number of gays from hostile home countries secure safe haven in 2010.

Immigration Equality, working together with legal volunteers, successfully assisted 101 GLBT asylum seekers last year, according to a press release issued by the organization on Feb. 7. The largest number from a single country was 28; those refugees came from Jamaica, one of the most violently homophobic nations in the world.

Gays in Jamaica are reportedly subject to mob violence, sometimes beaten and even murdered in their own homes. Homophobia is deeply rooted in Jamaican culture, with anti-gay songs played at dance halls. Homophobia is further inculcated into the society by anti-gay religious leaders.

A further 10 gay asylum seekers came from other Caribbean nations, the press release noted.

Other sexual minorities who won the right to stay in the United States and not be shipped back to face anti-gay persecution--which can often be life-threatening--came from Russia (seven of the 101 individuals), Uzbekistan (four asylum seekers), and Ghana (three individuals), among other nations.

Read more »

Uganda ruling small victory in gay struggle

Source: Institute for War & Peace Reporting

By Moses Odokonyero, Blake Evans-Pritchard

Gay people in Uganda continue to face threats and discrimination despite a court ruling banning local media from publishing the personal details of alleged homosexuals, rights activists and lawyers say.

The case relates to an article that was published on October 2 in Rolling Stone, a weekly Ugandan magazine that has no relation to the US publication of the same title.

The article in question, which was part of a series that the magazine was running, carried the headline “Hang Them” above a list of names and photos of people it accused of being gay. Other details were also published about some of those named, including an indication of the area in which they lived.

Following publication of the story, three of those named – Kasha Jacqueline, David Kato and Onziema Patience – decided to sue the newspaper for damages, arguing that their lives had been put at risk by an apparent call for vigilante justice to be carried out.

On January 3, the High Court in Kampala ruled that the constitutional rights of the plaintiffs had been violated – awarding each 1.5 million Ugandan shillings (649 United States dollars) – and issued an injunction prohibiting the publication of the identities and addresses of homosexuals.

Giles Muhame, the editor of Rolling Stone, denied that he was using his magazine to incite violence, and said that he would continue his campaign against homosexuals. He said that the apparent increase in gay activism in the country was a sign that the days of homosexuality were coming to an end.

“You know the noise that a chicken makes when a kite has snatched its chicks? This is it,” he said.

Read more »

UK asylum system mistreatment leading to 'millions' in compensation claims

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: Guardian

By Matthew Taylor

Millions of pounds in compensation is being paid to migrants who have been traumatised after being locked up in detention centres across the UK, the Guardian has learned.

Government figures show £12m in "special payments" – including compensation – for 2009/10 and a further £3m the year before.

The Home Office said it did not record the proportion of special payments made in compensation, but officials accepted that the figure over the past three years ran to millions of pounds.

Lawyers who are acting for detainees said there was an "epidemic of mistreatment" in the asylum system.
Harriet Wistrich, of Birnberg Peirce, said there was a "systemic failure" to protect torture victims who came to the UK seeking refuge. "It is nothing short of scandalous that we are causing serious harm by detaining people, sometimes for long periods of time, who have done nothing other than seek a place of sanctuary from the horrors they have escaped from, in the mistaken belief that Britain is a just and tolerant society."

Shamik Dutta, of the law firm Fisher Meredith, said he had dealt with 15 or 20 cases in the past three years. "The callous and unlawful mistreatment of detainees is continuing, and is not just harming extremely vulnerable and damaged individuals but also costing the economy millions of pounds … it is clear there is an epidemic of mistreatment leading to civil claims going through the courts."

Read more »

Death of a charity

Source: Left Foot Forward

By Jill Rutter

On a normal Friday morning the offices of Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) were busy with clients queuing up to attend appointments with their caseworkers. Today the 13 offices of RMJ are closed. The charity has folded, leaving up to 10,000 vulnerable people without legal representation. It is one of the biggest charity crashes in UK history. RMJ’s demise raises many important issues about the delivery of legal aid, about ‘advice’ for vulnerable people and about the dependence of charities on government funding.

Refugee and Migrant Justice was founded in 1992 at a time when asylum applications were increasing in the UK. Over the last 18 years it had given legal advice and representation to over 110,000 clients in its many offices and outreach surgeries across England and Wales. In recent years, just over half of its clients were asylum applicants. The charity also helped significant numbers of people who were living illegally in the UK present the full facts of their case to the UK Border Agency and obtain legal status or understand why they cannot obtain it.

RMJ had built a reputation for taking on complex asylum and immigration cases, often those that had been rejected by other firms of solicitors. There is considerable ‘cherry picking’ of asylum and immigration cases by some firms of solicitors, a trend worsened by a fixed fee system for legally-aided asylum and immigration. Research has shown that unscrupulous law firms are more than willing to take on easy cases, knowing that the fixed fee will more than cover their costs. But complex cases, for example, those of stateless persons, are turned away.

Over the years, RMJ’s work righted many wrongs. It secured the return to the UK of John Bosco Nyombi, a gay Ugandan man who was unlawfully removed from the UK. Nyombi was picked up by the UK Border Agency and told he was be taken to an interview about his case. Instead of taking him for this interview, Nyombi’s mobile phone was taken from him and he was flown back to Uganda. After his arrival in his home country, Nyombi was detained and beaten.

Read more »

Deportation Story: From Kampala to London and back

Source: Black Looks and NewInternationalist

By Sokari

Fighting deportation is one of the hardest legal battles you could face and fighting to return AFTER deportation is near impossible.   

In 2007, 12,525 failed asylum seekers  people were deported from Britain and 63,140 in total. Of the 24, 550 asylum claims in 2009 73% were turned down one of whom was a young woman from northern Uganda who had sought asylum after being repeatedly raped.

Her case had been pending for 5 years. Every couple of weeks she would report to the police station as all asylum claimants have to do. Each week for nearly 5 years her anxiety would start the week before signing on and become increasingly worse as the day neared.  Each time she signed on she would go into a panic that it would be her last and she would disappear. One Thursday in March 2009 she went to sign on as usual and was immediately locked up and then taken to Yarlswood Detention Center.  

By Sunday she was back in Kampala despite desperate attempts by her solicitor and barrister to stop the deportation. The struggle to bring her back continues and she remains in the protection of a church in Kampala. Her treatment and that of thousands of other deportees amounts to slow but intense torture, always living on the verge of being caught for simply living.

John ‘Bosco' Nyombi is also from Uganda. He came to Britain in 2002 after fearing for his life as a gay man in Uganda. On arrival in London he made a claim for asylum and after three months the Home Office withdraw their case. Despite repeated requests, the Home Office failed to put this in writing as required.   John then found a job but later his application for renewal of his stay was denied so back to court. Again there was no case but from 2004 he was told to report regularly to the police station – the usual procedure for pending asylum cases as I mentioned above. Then on the 9th September he went to sign on as usual and was immediately detained for deportation.

Bosco then describes the day he was transported by force to Heathrow airport by Group 4 Guards [private UK security company]. He was handcuffed,  screaming and struggling they dragged  him out of the van and punched him in the groin, cuffed his legs and put him on the plane. On the 19th September he arrived in Kampala and was handed over to Ugandan immigration.

Two days before this happened Bosco had appeared in the New Vision which reported him as a gay man. He was ridiculed by the immigration and then the police. With the help of a British diplomat,  Bosco managed to return to the UK. In the interview below he tells his story.

The procedure following his seizure at the police station right up to deportation is very typical. In March 2008, Ayo Omotade, a Nigerian on his way home to his brother’s wedding complained to the security guards in a British Airways flight about their handling of a deportee. Ayo was eventually thrown off the plane together with all the other passengers in economy class and he was charged with “of the charge of behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards crew”. Over a year later after considerable stress to himself and his family, Ayo was found Not Guilty and is presently pursuing a private suit against British Airways.

We rarely get to hear the stories of those deported.  They become invisible, lost as they invariably go into hiding in their home countries fearful of being seen or heard. Thousands and thousands of people across the world living in fear of either being deported or after being deported and this is why John “Bosco” Nyombi’s story is so important.

John's story

Read more »

Ugandan lesbian wins UK asylum court case, will government still try to deport?

By Paul Canning

A Ugandan lesbian, known at this stage only as 'SB', has won a case in the High Court against Home Office arguments that she could safely be deported.

The 24 February case before Mr Justice Hickinbottom, which will now go to judicial review, featured strong evidence of the persecution of lesbians in Uganda. The government's defence highlights how the UK asylum system will make every effort including breaking and twisting both rules and evidence to deport lesbians and gays.

It remains to be seen whether the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, will continue to insist that it is safe to return her to Uganda.

Fleeing from Uganda

SB had been briefly detained by police for her lesbianism in September 2003 in Mukono, just west of Kampala (which has ties to Guildford), and again in Kampala in May 2004. Released, she was put on bail but because she had not complied with their reporting conditions she was put on a 'wanted list'.

That November she traveled on a visitor visa to the UK. She overstayed the visa and was discovered during an immigration sweep. Found to have a false Ugandan passport she was arrested and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.

Many LGBT asylum seekers do not immediately claim asylum for a variety of reasons, including shame or simply a lack of awareness that they can claim asylum. False papers are often used to escape oppression but lead to criminal charges.

In June 2008, SB claimed asylum. This was refused point blank by the Home Office: they did not believe either that she was a lesbian or that she had been detained by police.

She appealed before an immigration judge in March 2009 but asylum was again refused on the basis that "there was no evidence that she was at risk of ill-treatment of such severity [once deported] as to amount to persecution."

That judge agreed with the Home Office's case that there was only ever one case of persecution of lesbians in Uganda, which had involved the high profile chair of a gay group. Because, the judge said, SB was "a very discreet person, and had conducted her sexual relationships discreetly in the past - and would continue to" she could be safely deported.

However the judge did accept the fact that she was a lesbian, that she had been detained by the police and ran the risk of being detained again.

She filed another appeal in July 2009 but on 2 November a caseworker issued an order to seize, detain and then deport her.

On 5 November further representations were made which included far more detailed and up-to-date evidence on the position of lesbians and gays in Uganda. But these were again rejected out of hand by the Home Office who plowed on with their drive for deportation.

Justice Hickinbottom described this decision as "irrational".

The evidence

The evidence Hickinbottom had before him came from Dr Michael Jennings of The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Paul Dillane from Amnesty International UK, who works with the AI Office in Kampala, and Dr Chris Dolan, Director of the Refugee Law Project in Uganda, a community project of the Faculty of Law, Makere University.

Dolan The Immigration Advisory Service provided over 350 pages of recent background material. Dolan provided evidence on the treatment of returnees, particularly at (Kampala's) Entebbe Airport.

This showed that there is a check on failed asylum seeker returnees by Ugandan police and that, given the current hostile attitude towards homosexuality, it would be more difficult for SB to bribe her way out of detention (as John Bosco, who was returned by the Home Office, was forced to do), and it's likely that any bribe would be for a considerable sum.

Amnesty International said that her history of arrest and detention would mean she would be “at real risk of harm should she be forcibly returned." Evidence presented of the abuse suffered by lesbians in Ugandan police detention ran the gamut from touching of intimate parts to the threat of being put into a male cell with the consequent risk of rape.

Prossy Kazzoza, who finally won UK asylum in 2008, was marched naked to a Ugandan police station and subjected to horrific sexual attacks and physical torture after she was discovered by her family. She escaped to the UK after her family bribed the guards to release her — as they wanted to deal with their family shame by having Prossy killed.

The original immigration judge for Prossy's case believed her claim to having been raped and tortured but felt it would be safe to return her to a different part of Uganda.

The evidence Hickinbottom had showed that identified gay men and lesbians can be the subject of ill-treatment, by both the public in terms of lynching and 'corrective rape' and by the police — without them being otherwise 'high profile'. (Thus arguing against the Home Office claims that only one lesbian who was a group leader has ever been persecuted in Uganda).

Because SB is unmarried and without children, the evidence showed, it would - apart from the police attentions - be extremely difficult for her to maintain the sort of 'discretion' which Home Office policy dictates should allow for 'safe' deportation for lesbians and gays even to countries where persecution is known to occur (for example Iran).

Wrote Hickinbottom:

Given this evidence - much of which post-dates the determination of Immigration Judge Grimmett last year - it is perhaps surprising that the Secretary of State took the view that this material, taken with the material the Claimant previously relied upon, was not such as to give the Claimant any chance at all of succeeding with her new asylum claim before a tribunal.

 

Never mind the evidence

All of this was blithely dismissed by the Home Office representative who wanted deportation because he continued to claim that evidence "lacked specific examples of ill-treatment of identified gay men and lesbians in Uganda". Home Office minister Alan Johnston's representative claimed:

• that the ill-treatment of gay men in Uganda was limited to discriminatory legislation that was not enforced
• SB would only be at risk of arrest in Kampala because the record of her bail infringement was only kept there (evidence showed otherwise, Ugandan police do share the 'wanted list')
• she could internally relocate and live discreetly, as a lesbian, without fear of persecution
• even if arrested in Kampala, she would not face the risk of persecution because the harassment she suffered at the hands of the police when she was arrested in 2003 and 2004 was not sufficiently severe to amount to persecution
• there was evidence of only one incident in which lesbians had suffered ill-treatment during detention

All this is in line with the Home Office country-specific operational guidance notes available to case workers and judges on Uganda - it makes no mention of lesbians. (A series of reports - including one last month - have decried the quality of these reports.)

Victory?

Refusing the Home Office and allowing the judicial review, Hickinbottom wryly noted that the presentation of the previous judgment once again by Alan Johnston's representative as an argument for deportation - despite all the subsequently available evidence of persecution of lesbians in Uganda - could not be used as "a trump card for the Secretary of State".

He also decided that the brief detention of SB on the orders of a case worker in November was unlawful. He said a number of mistakes were made by the case worker, such as falsely claiming that SB was liable to abscond, and that an Judge's order saying she could not be deported due to a judicial review and must be released was ignored.

It is not over for SB. The Home Office could still fight the case at its next stage. It can keep trying to pull out trump cards rather than live up to its solemn obligations under international laws which the UK is signed up to.

Other parts of the British government are engaged with critiquing the same 'crack down' on Ugandan lesbians and gays that's detailed in evidence presented in SB's case. Ministers have made statements. The Foreign Office is "concerned". The Prime Minister has pulled aside the Ugandan president and told him to stop.

Perhaps those ministers who tell off Uganda for its attitude to Ugandan lesbians could have a quiet word with their fellow minister, Alan Johnson, about his own treatment of Ugandan lesbians?


SB (Uganda) - approved judgment and case note - (LGBT in Uganda)

Gay Ugandan John Bosco speaks at London event

Source: Vince - 19 Feb

Last week, my University (The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London) held a discussion about LGBT rights in Africa. Invited were SOAS lecturer Marica Moscati (preparing her PhD on same-sex marriage), a spokesperson for Amnesty International, John Bosco (a Ugandan refugee) and Skye (Zimbabwean gay rights activist).

One against the stream

Moscati gave a quick picture of what gay rights in Africa looked like and showed a diverse picture from several nations punishing homosexuality with the death penalty or prison to one extreme opposite, South Africa. It prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation since 1996 and legalised same-sex marriages ten years after that . Seen in many western nations as one of the last legal steps to full equality, same-sex marriage was a very early change for better in South Africa. The equal marriage law “serves as a strong example for equality” and as an orientation point for South African society that largely still is as homophobic as it’s neighbours.

South Africa learnt from it’s divisive past and so did Rwanda that decided not to criminalise homosexuality in 2009. Rwanda experienced similar race relation problems as South Africa did. Today, 56.3% of parliamentarians are women, Zimbabwean gay rights activist Skye Chirape pointed out and argued it would have been a major factor for this decision as women are “more compassionate”. “If women were to seize their rightful share of governance, gays will be better off, too”.

LGBTAfrica Homosexuality – a Western import?

A member from the audience tried to contravene with an often heard statement: “Homosexuality is against African values” and the West would be pushing their ideas onto the continent. He was swiftly dismissed by the panellists: “What is African culture?” Moscati asked back and waited for a reply. “What is African culture?” she repeated after a few seconds of silence and then went on:

    “Culture is not something fixed or written somewhere on a pillar. It’s something changeable. We can improve culture! We shouldn’t avoid reality just because it has mostly been done that way in the past.”

In fact, this accusation is quite ironic as it were the European colonialists who brought the anti-sodomy laws to the rest of the world in the first place. “There were lesbian relationships with legal implications in some ancient African tribal communities” said Moscati. Of course Africa also knew discrimination and resentments. Amplified homophobia yet is a Western import.

No coming out, no rights

As for nowadays, Skye mentioned that in Zimbabwe, the punishment for homosexuality is 10 years in prison “… if you’re lucky to come out alive”. She also emphasised that there are as many LGBTs in Africa as elsewhere, but “reports are oppressed by governments“ and almost all gays and lesbians are “too scared to come out”.

This, however, is crucial to be able to fight fully for rights. Some say, gays and lesbians should be careful and see how change comes along before risking their lives. Yet how can people be treated equally if Africa is unaware of their existence? How can they achieve justice if the handful of gay activists are branded as tainted by Western influence? It requires courage and may be daring, but otherwise the lives of gays in Africa will continue to be made miserable.

John Bosco's story

John Bosco told his story at the LGBT Rights in Africa event at SOAS. He realised he is “gay” by the age of 18. He only knew what “gay” meant from the taunts of fellow pupils. He didn’t come out in fear of arrest, but he couldn’t control the feelings that he felt.

    “Nobody wants to be gay in Uganda but you are what you are.”

A gay bar he visited was raided in 2001. He escaped police, yet people tracked his home down where his brother was taken and questioned about John, who wasn’t there. His brother didn’t know of his whereabouts and was beaten and ultimately killed.

If they allowed him in, “all gays from Uganda would come”

Bosco then sought asylum in the UK in September that year and went through immigration hell in inhumane detention centres. Freed later, he had to report to the police daily. After his asylum appeal was rejected several times over the next years he returned to a detention centre and was then forcefully put on a flight back to Uganda in 2008. He told the immigration officers that he would be killed but they said “We told the Ugandan officials nothing”, suggesting that if he keeps quiet, he will be fine.

Yet nothing was fine as the police in Uganda was aware of his identify from the bar raid seven years ago. Since being gay is illegal, he had to bribe his way to freedom coming out of the airport with 500£. People said, he would want to be gay so he could come to the UK and this shows how homosexuality is perceived as something foreign that doesn’t naturally happen in Africa.

He flew back to the UK and but was held in the detention centre again until finally his asylum was granted in May 2009.

Bosco said even the Home Office in Britain treats you differently as a gay. He was asked for example to prove that he would be gay while applying for asylum. He was told if they allowed him in, “all gays from Uganda would come”.

“Many solicitors on top are also reluctant to take up cases of gay refugees”, he said.