On the 31st of March 2020, the Uganda Police Force arrested 20 LGBTQ+ people for disobeying the social distancing rules in Uganda following the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country. According to a report on Openly, the 20 LGBTQ+ persons comprised 14 gay men, 2 bisexual men, and 4 transgender women.
The Ugandan Police said that the arrested LGBTQ+ persons were disobeying the restrictions on social distancing by congesting in a school-like-dormitory setting within a small house. The social distancing rules bans gatherings of over 10 persons. That figure has now been reduced to 5.
But advocates disagree.
Stating the effects of homophobia on LGBTQ+ people in Uganda—physical attacks in their daily life, routine harassment, prejudice in work, housing and health care—Patricia Kimera, a lawyer with Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum insists that they were targeted deliberately because of their sexual orientation. Uganda is one of the countries where gay sex is illegal and possibly attracts a life sentence. In Uganda, sexual minorities face persecution, arrests, and attacks.
“They are always using alternative charges to arrest people for unnatural offences so it (coronavirus) just worked perfectly for them,” said Patricia.
On Wednesday, 1st of April 2020, Patricia, alongside other Human Rights Advocates in Uganda, demanded that the 20 LGBTQ+ persons in police custody be released. “It causes a threat to them amidst the COVID-19 epidemic. It is a violation of their right to health, especially those who are on antiretroviral drugs and cannot access them,” said Patricia. Patricia added that at least four members of the group were HIV positive but Uganda’s coronavirus lockdown and a ban on prison visits made it impossible to meet the detainees or deliver medication to them.
However, Uganda Prisons Service has insisted that it is complying with the directive from the president, banning prisoners from access to anyone outside the prison for 30 days starting March 20.
The prison conditions are also a cause of concern for the Human Rights Groups advocating for LGBTQ+ persons in Uganda. “God forbid if an infection finds its way into the prison service in our country – it’s overcrowded, it has bad facilities,” said Nicholas Opiyo, executive director of Chapter Four, a Ugandan human rights group.
