Uganda

Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Penal Code 1950, which criminalises acts of ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ and ‘gross indecency’. This law carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023, which came into force in May 2023, significantly expanded the offences criminalising LGBT people. This included introducing the offence of “aggravated homosexuality” which includes the death penalty for “serial offenders”. Both men and women are criminalised under these laws.

The Penal Code 1950 was inherited from the British during the colonial period, in which the English criminal law was imposed upon Uganda. Uganda retained the provision upon independence and in recent years there have been repeated attempts to strengthen laws criminalising LGBT people in Uganda, most recently with the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023.

There is substantial evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being frequently subject to arrest. Mass arrests often take place, and lead to arbitrary detention, forced anal ‘examinations’, and other forms of ill treatment. There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including murder, assault, harassment, extortion, and the denial of basic rights and services.

2024

On 3 April, the Ugandan Constitutional Court dismissed a legal case challenging the constitutionality of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 (AHA). In a unanimous decision, the Court upheld the constitutionality of all but 4 provisions of the AHA, and held that the individual rights to self-determination, self-perception and autonomy had to be balanced against the “societal right to social, political and cultural self-determination.”  The Court found that the  “uniqueness” of Uganda’s Constitution required the Court to consider Uganda’s socio-cultural norms in any constitutional challenge. In a press release issued by the Ugandan judiciary, the Court also referred to the decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, where the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, as a consideration in overruling the right to individual autonomy.

The provisions that the Court struck down as unconstitutional included the ‘duty to report’ suspected acts of homosexuality to the police and allowing the use of premises for any offence under the AHA. The Court also struck down a provision that imposed the death sentence for transmission of HIV, which was found to violate Ugandan’s right to health.

The decision was delivered orally in court and the written judgment can be found here in our Resources library.

2023

On 21 March, a Bill further criminalising LGBT people was passed by the Ugandan parliament. Introduced by Asuman Basalirwa, a member of parliament, the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) goes beyond the prohibition of same-sex acts to criminalise anyone who “holds out as a lesbian, gay, transgender, a queer, or any other sexual or gender identity that is contrary to the binary categories of male and female,” with a punishment of up to ten years in prison. The AHA makes repeated same-sex, sexual acts punishable by death. The AHA was signed into law by the President and came into force in May 2023. Only two of Parliament’s 389 legislators voted against the Bill.

The AHA is significantly more regressive and punitive than the laws criminalising same-sex sexual acts under the colonial Penal Code 1950. The AHA goes beyond the prohibition of same-sex acts and criminalises a range of activities, including the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality, which holds a punishment of up to 20 years in prison.  The AHA also introduces a duty to report anyone suspected of breaching or planning to breach the Act.  Failure to report to the police could result in five years’ imprisonment if a child or vulnerable person, including an individual with a disability, is involved.

One of the most extreme features of the AHA is the introduction of the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’, which includes repeated same-sex, sexual acts.

Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, a Ugandan Member of Parliament who has consistently voted against the Bill, has pledged to ensure the AHA is removed from the lawbooks.

On 30 May, MP Fox Odoi-Oywelowo, along with a group of leading LGBT human rights activists, filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to have the AHA struck down on the grounds that it is unconstitutional and seeking a permanent injunction to prevent its implementation.

In December, the Ugandan Constitutional Court began hearings in relation to the petition.  It is reported that a panel of five judges told petitioners they would be notified when a ruling was ready. One of the lawyers for the petitioners described the case as being of “national importance” and commented that their evidence included “a lot of chilling testimonies by victims of this law showing how it has affected their lives”.

Some international bodies have imposed restrictions on the Ugandan Government in response to the passing of the AHA. In August, the World Bank released a statement saying, “Our goal is to protect sexual and gender minorities from discrimination and exclusion in the projects we finance. These measures are currently under discussion with the authorities.  No new public financing to Uganda will be presented to our Board of Executive Directors until the efficacy of the additional measures has been tested.”

There are also reports that the US is imposing visa restricitons on key officials and restricting imports of Ugandan goods to US markets. The EU reportedly declined to suspend financial aid to Uganda.

2021

In May, the Ugandan Parliament passed the Sexual Offences Bill, further criminalising same-sex sexual activity and sex work and consolidating a range of other sexual offences. Ostensibly to tackle sexual violence, the Bill received criticism from Ugandan LGBT groups including Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who stated that the new law would be another tool used to target and arrest LGBT people in the country, as well as being condemned by UN mechanisms and international civil society. In August, President Museveni declined to give assent to the Bill, returning it to Parliament on the basis that many of its provisions duplicate offences already included in the Penal Code. The ultimate fate of the Bill is not yet clear.

2019

In October, it was reported that there were plans to revive the ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill – criminalising the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ and imposing the death penalty for certain offences. Uganda’s Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, asserted that “Homosexuality is not natural to Ugandans, but there has been a massive recruitment by gay people in schools, and especially among the youth, where they are promoting the falsehood that people are born like that. Our current penal law is limited. It only criminalises the act. We want it made clear that anyone who is even involved in promotion and recruitment has to be criminalised. Those that do grave acts will be given the death sentence.”

However, Ofwono Opondo P’Odel, Executive Director of Uganda Media Centre (the Ugandan Government’s public communications body), tweeted only a few days later that “Government hereby clarifies that it does not intend to introduce any new law with regards to the regulation of #LGBT activities in Uganda because the current provisions in the #PenalCode are sufficient.” This was re-affirmed by Senior Press Secretary to President Museveni, Don Wanyama, who stated “We have the penal code that already handles issues of unnatural sexual behaviour so there is no law coming up.”

These developments came soon after Uganda’s Minister for Security, General Elly Tumwine, labelled the opposition movement (‘People Power, Our Power’) “a terrorist organisation”, noting its association “with LGBT… and things that want to break the established order of things”, and the murder of gay rights activist, Wasswa John (known as Brian), who was brutally beaten and stabbed to death by locals.

2017 

In May, Sexual Minorities Uganda lodged its case with the High Court after the Ugandan Registration Service Bureau refused the organisation’s attempt to fornally register its name.

In June, Rebecca Kadaga, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, called for the country’s anti-gay laws to be reinstated. She said: “There is no bill on homosexuality. What we need is a new bill.”

2015

In April, the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill 2015 was published in the Ugandan Government Gazette. The Bill proposed to empower the National Board for Non-Governmental Organisations to refuse to register an NGO when “it is in the public interest to do so.” Organisations would be prohibited from operating unless registered with the National Board for NGOs. Clause 40(f) of the Bill would also prohibit NGOs from engaging in “any act, which is prejudicial to the interests of Uganda and the dignity of the people of Uganda.” These provisions would restrict the activities of NGOs, and in particular those who work in support of LGBT rights. However, the Bill failed to pass in September.

The Ugandan Constitutional Court was on 8 July due to hear the matter of Jjuuko Adrian v. Attorney General, which has been awaiting trial for seven years, but failed to do so. The case concerns a challenge to provisions in Uganda’s Equal Opportunities Commission Act of 2007 preventing the Equal Opportunities Commission from investigating cases of LGBT rights abuses.

2014 

The Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was signed into law in February. The law expanded the criminalisation of same-sex sexual activity, contravening Uganda’s obligations under its Constitution and international law. Read more about the AHA. In April, 30,000 Ugandans gathered at a stadium in Kampala to “give thanks to the President” for passing the Act.

On 1 August, the Ugandan Constitutional Court struck down the AHA. The Court found that there was an insufficient quorum (the required number of parliamentarians to pass an Act) and thus found the Act unconstitutional. While, UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon welcomed the decision by the Constitutional Court of Uganda to annul the AHA as “a victory for the rule of law”, domestic supporters urged the government to reintroduce the Bill. Anglican Archbishop, Stanley Ntagali, said in August “the ‘court of public opinion’ has clearly indicated its support for the Act, and we urge Parliament to consider voting again on the Bill with the proper quorum in place.”

In November, members of Uganda’s ruling party circulated a draft of the Prohibition of Promotion of Unnatural Sexual Practices Bill, which was intended to replace the annulled AHA by criminalising same-sex acts even further. The Bill was not adopted. Read more about this failed bill.

2023

In March, eight people were arrested on charges related to their sexual orientation in two separate cases in the city of Jinja. Six men were arrested in relation to a video allegedly showing them engaged in sexual activity and were charged with indecency and procuring gross indecency. In a separate case the Deputy Head of a girls school and her alleged partner were charged with gross indecency and procurement of gross indecency. The women were arrested following protests by parents and  students, who stormed the school accusing her of recruiting students into lesbianism.

In August, four people were arrested over ‘acts of homosexuality’ at a massage parlour in the eastern district of Buikwe.

Also in August, a 20-year old man became the first person to be charged under the ‘aggravated homosexuality’ provisions in the AHA. The offence carries the death penalty and can be applied in cases which include repeat offences, same-sex activity that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a person with disabilities. According to Uganda’s director of prosecutions the man is accused of having same-sex sex with a disabled 41-year old man. By the end of the year at least five individuals had been charged under the AHA.

There are reports of individuals being too fearful to leave their homes, and of survivors of sexual violence, including rape, not reporting incidents to the police for fear of being arrested. There were also reports of numerous instances of witch hunts, violence and mob-assisted arrests having taken place in September in northern Uganda.

2022

In August Ugandan officials shut down the prominent LGBT rights group, Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug), which had been operating since 2004. They were purportedly shut down for a failure to register with authorities in what was described as a ‘witch hunt’ against the LGBT community in Uganda.

2021

In May, 44 people were arrested under the guise of violating COVID-19 regulations for attending a gathering in a shelter, which the police claimed was a same-sex marriage. Forty-two people were charged under section 171 of the Penal Code, which criminalises acts “likely to spread infection of disease”. At least 17 of the accused were subjected to forced anal examinations despite the fact that there were no charges under anti-LGBT laws, and were transferred to a prison where they were held in unsafe conditions. On 4 June the detainees were granted bail and were later released.

2020

The US Department of State report noted that the law is occasionally enforced. This included at least two raids of civil society meetings in which LGBT people were arrested, ostensibly for breaching COVID-19 regulations.

2019 

On 21 October, 16 LGBT activists were arrested on suspicion of engaging in same-sex sexual activity in what fellow activists called an escalating campaign against sexual minorities. The 16 men, believed to be aged between 22 and 35, were arrested at the office of a sexual health charity (Let’s Walk Uganda) where they all worked and lived. On 24 October, police spokesperson Patrick Onyango indicated that officers had found lubricants, condoms and antiretroviral drugs at the charity, and had conducted medical examinations on all 16 people. “Based on the medical examination report, it was established that the suspects were involved in sexual acts punishable under the penal code,” he said.

Uganda activist Frank Mugisha noted that mass arrests were a new phenomenon in Uganda, reporting that the 16 individuals were held by police for over 48 hours and forced to undergo anal ‘examinations’. All 16 activists were initially taken into “protective custody” after a crowd yelling homophobic slurs surrounded their office, rights groups said. Police said the group was detained after they were alerted to “illegal activities” by the community. They were reportedly released on bail until 5^th November.

On 10 November, police raided LGBT-friendly ‘RAM Bar’ in Kampala, arresting 127 people. Local media reported that they were dragged out of the venue and thrown into police vehicles. One of those detained by the police was able to call her brother, who works for the police and indicated that the raid had been to target LGBT people, despite police claims that it related to their use of shisha. Local LGBT rights organisations similarly suggested that this raid was targeting the LGBT community. Of those arrested, 67 were reportedly charged with nuisance offences.

2017

The US Department of State report stated that the authorities enforced the law during the year. The report further noted that the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) reported 14 cases of police arresting persons on suspicion of being LGBT.

2015

In January, police reportedly arrested nine men under Uganda’s anti-gay laws. Reports indicate the men were subject to forced anal examinations while in police custody.

In September, an ex-football manager was convicted by a chief magistrate’s court for forceful same-sex sexual act, but at the same time was acquitted for sex with another male because that involved consensual same-sex sexual activity. However, according to the HRAPF the accused was not acquitted on the second count because the sex was consensual, but because the Magistrate concluded that evidence from his consensual sex partner could not be trusted. He even suggested that the partner could also have been prosecuted for willingly violating a law against same-sex relations.

2014

Police raided the premises of Steven Dhont, a Belgian national, and his Kenyan friend at midnight while they were watching television in January. Both were charged and compelled to undergo anal examinations. The following day, they were paraded in public before the media.

In February, NTV Uganda reported that two men suspected of engaging in homosexual acts were arrested in Oyam in the Northern Region of Uganda.

A report in May noted 17 arrests since the passage of the AHA. This compares with just one such case reported to them in 2013 and none in 2012. Between 2007 and 2011, there were 23 reported arrests, none of which resulted in rosecute

After the AHA came into effect, the government ordered the suspension of the Refugee Law Project (RLP), a legal aid organisation based at Kampala’s Makerere University School of Law that provided services to refugees across Uganda, including victims of gender-based and sexual violence. Despite the nullification of the AHA by the Constitutional Court, the responsible minister refused to lift the RLP’s suspension.

In October, a Ugandan court dismissed charges against a man and a trans woman arrested in January 2014. The defendants’ lawyer said the case was dismissed because the prosecution failed to produce any witnesses.

2013

In October, 65-year-old British national Bernard Randall was arrested and charged with “trafficking obscene publications”. The arrest and charges arose out of an attempted blackmail plot, after Randall’s laptop was stolen and material published in a newspaper. On 22 January 2014, the charges were dropped, and the Court ordered his immediate deportation. Randall’s 30-year-old Ugandan partner, Albert Cheptoyek, was also arrested and charged with gross indecency.

2024

In January, Steven Kabuye, a key Ugandan LGBT rights activist, was subjected to a violent attack on his way to work. Whilst riding his motorbike in Kampala, he was stabbed by unknown individuals and left for dead.  He had been receiving death threats since March 2023 and at the time of writing he was in a critical condition in hospital.

2023

In March, LGBT rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda reported a dramatic surge in attacks on LGBT people. More than 110 people reported incidents including arrests, sexual violence, evictions and public undressing. Transgender people were disproportionately affected, said the group.

In August, the local human rights organisation HRAPF reported that, in the first three months following the passage of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, 176 LGBT individuals were victims of human rights violations, including evictions, violence and arrests. The number of reported cases shot up by 329.4% as compared to the same three-month period in 2022.

In September, the offices of trans organisation TranzNetwork were looted, robbed and set on fire by a group of unknown assailants in Kikaaya, Kampala.

2022

In August, government suspended Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), the country’s leading gay rights organisation. The National Bureau for Non-governmental Organizations instituted the ban on the basis that the organisation was not officially registered. A 2012 attempt to register SMUG with the authorities was rejected because the organisation’s name was deemed “undesirable” by the NGO bureau.

2020

In March, a shelter for homeless LGBT youth was raided by police and local residents. They beat and arrested 23 people. Twenty residents of the shelter were detained by police for over six weeks and were denied access to lawyers.

In May, police raided a private celebration at another youth shelter and arrested 44 people, initially accusing them of holding a same-sex wedding. Police subjected 17 of the accused to forced anal examinations.

2019

In August, Dr Ben Kiwanuka Mukwaya reportedly cracked a lesbian woman’s skull with an iron bar and inflicted other serious injuries. In October, the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Aceng, reported Dr Mukwaya to the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC) over allegations that he assaulted a patient at his private health facility. Dr Mukwaya is a member of the UMDPC and sits on the board. The Minister said: “It is the policy of Ministry of Health that all patients should be able to seek medical treatment without fear of discrimination, violence, personal vengeance or retaliation… We also strongly condemn assault and violence against any individual and appeal to the public to report any such incidents to the relevant authorities.”

Also in August, group of motorcycle taxi drivers beat to death a young trans woman, Fahad Ssemugooma Kawere. 

In the aftermath of the Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo’s statement indicating a revived ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill, LGBT activists reported a surge in hate crimes. Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, Frank Mugisha, observed that “what we are seeing recently – these continuous attacks over such a short space of time – is not normal.” On 13 October, two transgender women were beaten when they were leaving a nightclub. Also in October, gay rights activist, Wasswa John (known as Brian), was brutally beaten and stabbed to death by locals. On 20 October, unidentified assailants attacked a gay Rwandan refugee, inflicting blows to the head.

2017

In August, the Ugandan government cancelled a week of gay pride celebrations in the country for the second year. Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, accused pride organisers of attempting to stage an illegal gathering aimed at recruitment, exhibition and promotion of homosexuality. 

In December, police stormed Uganda’s only gay and lesbian film festival and forced its organisers to shut it down.

2015

A report released in February by Chapter Four Uganda detailed 25 instances of forced anal ‘examinations’ carried out by doctors in cases related to same-sex activity between men.

A report released in July by the Consortium on Monitoring Violations Based on Sex Determination, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation documented 89 cases of LGBT rights violations in Uganda in 2014. Of these, 47 were carried out by state actors and 42 by non-state actors.

In July, a Channel 4 documentary covered the story of two gay men who were arrested in January 2014 after they were thrown out of their house and beaten by the local residents. They were subjected to forced HIV examinations and one of them had an anal ‘examination performed’ on him. Both were paraded before the media. Although the charges against them were dismissed in October 2014, they suffered homophobic attacks from fellow inmates and are now struggling to make a living.

2014

The US Department of State report on Uganda noted that: “Local LGBT-related NGOs were denied official status due to the discriminatory law preventing their registration.”

In January, a trans-woman was attacked by a mob on her way home from a gay-friendly bar. The mob humiliated her, beat her up and undressed her to check her sex in front of media. Police intervened and detained and charged her with vagrancy.

In April, activists in Uganda reported at least 17 LGBT people had attempted suicide due to the AHA.

Ugandan officials raided a US military affiliated research institute at Makerere University in April, reportedly on account of the institute’s work with the LGBT community.

A report released by Makerere University’s Refugee Law Project in April found that the AHA not only reinforced homophobia but also heightened xenophobia.

A report by Sexual Minorities Uganda in May found 162 reported cases of discrimination following the passage of the AHA, with over 30% including an element of violence; 41% involving an element of intimidation; 50% involving a loss of property or an eviction or loss of home; and 25% involving family rejection, asylum or suicide.

A joint press release from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in May stated that “LGBTI people in Uganda have reported a surge in human rights violations since the passage of the Anti-Homosexuality Act.”

In November, Ugandan LGBT activist Kelly Mukwano was hospitalised after an attack by a homophobic mob in Kampala.