Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KAMPALA1413
2009-12-24 08:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kampala
Cable title:  

UGANDA: HOMOPHOBE EXTREMISTS AND HOMOSEXUAL SCAPEGOATS

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL UG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO4940
RR RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1413/01 3580828
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 240827Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0049
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0004
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0003
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KAMPALA 001413 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/24
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: HOMOPHOBE EXTREMISTS AND HOMOSEXUAL SCAPEGOATS

REF: 09 KAMPALA 01381; 09 KAMPALA 1409; 09 KAMPALA 1396
09 KAMPALA 01024

CLASSIFIED BY: Aaron Sampson, Pol/Econ Chief, State, Pol/Econ;
REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KAMPALA 001413

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/24
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA: HOMOPHOBE EXTREMISTS AND HOMOSEXUAL SCAPEGOATS

REF: 09 KAMPALA 01381; 09 KAMPALA 1409; 09 KAMPALA 1396
09 KAMPALA 01024

CLASSIFIED BY: Aaron Sampson, Pol/Econ Chief, State, Pol/Econ;
REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

1. (C) Summary: Parliamentary sponsor of the anti-homosexuality
bill, David Bahati, told PolOffs on December 15 that he is open to
minor changes to his legislation, expressed deep disappointment
with Rick Warren and others' statements against the bill, and said
Uganda will not yield to international pressure. On December 18,
Bahati and Pastor Martin Ssempa dominated a one-sided "consultative
meeting" on the bill organized by the Uganda Human Rights
Commission with UN funding. Bahati directly challenged the White
House statement against the bill, and said impending oil revenues
will soon liberate Uganda from international influence. Members of
the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee continue to maintain
that the anti-homosexuality bill is not a priority and will not
come up for debate in committee until March or April 2011. However,
domestic pressure on parliamentarians is growing. Meanwhile, some
Museveni critics are wondering if the anti-homosexuality bill's
main targets are two of President Museveni's key election rivals:
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Kizza Besigye and
former UN Undersecretary Olara Otunnu. End Summary.



--------------

Bahati Unrepentant

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2. (C) PolOffs met with Bahati on December 15 to provide recent
statements by Rick Warren and others against the anti-homosexuality
bill. At Bahati's request, the meeting occurred at the Anglican
Church of Uganda's headquarters where Bahati said he was reviewing
the legislation with Anglican Church leaders. A passing glimpse of
the Church conference room revealed Archbishop Henry Luke Oromi and
his AmCit international relations assistant, Alison Barfoot.
Bahati entered our meeting with a document entitled "The 10 Deadly
Sins of Homosexuality", and launched into a lengthy explanation of
the current bill, saying it renders existing law more specific by
defining homosexuality and attaching penalties for homosexual
"recruitment". He criticized international donors for short
circuiting Uganda's democratic p
rocedures when it is in their
interest, said demands to withdraw the legislation outright are
unacceptable, and ridiculed recent threats by Sweden to cut its
assistance (ref. A). Bahati attributed international criticism to
a misreading of the text and a misunderstanding of the "situation
on the ground" in Uganda.



3. (U) Bahati described the bill as a "proposal", solicited
recommendations for "improving" the legislation, and appeared
moderately open to altering provisions regarding the death penalty
and requirements to report homosexual activity to authorities
within 24 hours. Bahati said he personally does not believe in the
death penalty and that this language was lifted directly from
Uganda's 2007 Defilement Act. He said he is talking with UNAIDS
about the bill's impact on HIV/AIDS programs, but that he does not
believe the legislation will negatively impact HIV/AIDS prevention.
Although Bahati claimed the bill is intended to further protect
minors from sexual predators, he seemed unaware and unconcerned
that his bill's "aggravated homosexuality" provision also condemns
to death "serial offenders" twice convicted of the lesser and much
more vague infractions of "homosexuality" and "related offenses".



4. (C) Bahati expressed profound disappointment with Rick Warren's
letter against the bill, questioned how Warren could say one thing
in Africa and another in the U.S, and said Ugandan church leaders
are in the process of drafting a response. He initially attributed
Warren's letter, and similar condemnations by Senators Inhofe and
Grassley, as products of domestic pressure or "blackmail", but
later said he would telephone U.S. based contacts to seek further
clarification. Bahati said he will also raise the matter in person
when he travels to the U.S. in early 2010. Bahati hoped
Parliament's Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee will take up
the bill in February 2010, but said his overriding goal is to see
the bill into law - and he stressed that the bill will become law -
by the February 2011 elections.

KAMPALA 00001413 002 OF 004


5. (C) Bahati's reasoning for introducing the bill alternated
between protecting children from sexual predators, eradicating
Uganda of homosexuality, and some combination of the two. He
claimed to have evidence documenting the homosexual recruitment of
children, particularly in same sex schools and churches, and said
the bill's provisions on reporting suspected homosexuality
specifically target school masters and religious leaders. When
asked to elaborate on evidence of supposed homosexual recruitment,
Bahati referred to a UNICEF pamphlet distributed in Uganda in 2002
that mentioned same-sex attraction, vague activities of unnamed
foreign NGOs, and "networking" among foreign diplomats. At the end
of the meeting, Bahati noted that he is also the Chairman of the
Uganda Boy Scouts and is working on another bill - the second of
his short Parliamentary career - updating Uganda's 1963 Scouts Act.
We did not ask if this bill will also target homosexuality.



--------------

One-Sided Human Rights Debate

--------------



6. (C) On December 18, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC)
organized - with support from the UN Office of the High
Commissioner on Human Rights - what turned out to be a one-sided
debate on the anti-homosexuality bill. Only the U.S., Danish,
Irish, and German Embassies were represented. Prior to the debate
PolOff received a text message from leaders of Sexual Minorities
Uganda (SMUG) expressing concerns for the safety of SMUG
representatives scheduled to attend the event. Bahati's late
arrival delayed the event for more than an hour, and the UHRC
failed to seat any representative of those opposed to the
legislation at the head table, despite seating Bahati and - for
unexplained reasons - Uganda's most outspoken anti-gay activist
Martin Ssempa. A comment by an audience member later prompted the
UHRC to correct this imbalance by inviting a clearly hesitant and
nervous SMUG leader, David Kato, to sit beside Ssempa on the dais.
Ssempa proceeded to shake Kato's hand while striking absurd poses
for the assembled press corps.



7. (C) Bahati's remarks mirrored his private statements to PolOffs.
Bahati also attacked the White House statement opposing the bill,
saying that he admires President Obama, that President Obama ran on
a platform of change, and that Uganda's message to him is that
"homosexuality is not a change but rather an evil that we must
fight." At this point the room erupted in loud applause, led by
Ssempa pounding his hand on the head table, and Bahati observed
that oil revenues will free Uganda of foreign entanglements. At
other points in Bahati's tirade against homosexuality, Ssempa
registered his support by issuing audible sounds of disgust.



8. (C) Kato delivered a well-written speech defending the rights
of gay and lesbians in Uganda. However, his words were nearly
indecipherable due to his evident nervousness. Throughout Kato's
speech, the UHRC Chairman openly joked and snickered with Bahati
and Ssempa on the dais. SMUG representatives left shortly after
Kato's speech, fearing that Bahati had instructed the Inspector
General of Police to arrest Kato. After a break, Ssempa showed
graphic x-rated photos of what he described as gay sex, and several
audience members rose to ask why authorities did not arrest Ugandan
homosexuals when they had the chance. NOTE: Ssempa also posted on
his website a response to Rick Warren, allegedly signed by a "task
force" of Ugandan religious authorities working out of Ethics
Minister Nsaba Buturo's office. END NOTE.



--------------

Buturo - He's Back

--------------

KAMPALA 00001413 003 OF 004


9. (SBU) After a week of relative restraint - Buturo told the
Mission and a Wall Street Journal reporter that he would no longer
comment on a "private members" bill - Buturo re-emerged on December
22, accusing three civil society groups - SMUG, Integrity Uganda,
and Gay Uganda - of receiving $20 million to allegedly promote a
gay agenda in Uganda. Buturo accused the Dutch editor of the
government run newspaper, the New Vision, of promoting
homosexuality by refusing to promote Buturo's anti-homosexuality
agenda, and said the government is looking into the editor's
allegiances. NOTE: The New Vision has reportedly been limiting
coverage of the anti-homosexuality bill, both for and against, for
several months and recently tried to prevent a well-known columnist
from publishing an article against the bill (ref. B). END NOTE.
Buturo also criticized foreign donors for condemning the bill, and
accused the local Observer newspaper of running a story on Buturo,
Bahati, and Museveni's alleged links to the U.S. religious
organization "The Family" in return for a bribe.



-------------- --------------

Parliamentary Debate in March or April

-------------- --------------



10. (C) On December 17, an opposition member of the Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Committee, Abdu Katuntu, reaffirmed that
Bahati's bill is not a priority and that debate on the legislation
will likely not begin until March or April 2011 (ref. C). Key
bills on election reform, political party funding, and the
International Criminal Court are already pending before Katuntu's
committee. Katuntu said pressure to move the anti-homosexuality
bill to the front of the line is "disturbing" committee members,
but that his committee is composed of lawyers who are difficult to
intimidate and take a skeptical view of anti-homosexuality
legislation.



11. (C) Bahati tried to shift the bill from the Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Committee to the more favorable Presidential
and Foreign Affairs Committee on December 15 but failed as there is
no provision in Parliament to re-assign legislation from one
committee to another. Katuntu further clarified the surreptitious
hearings held by the Presidential Affairs Committee in October or
November, saying the Presidential Affairs Committee Chairman
unilaterally opened debate without waiting for Parliament to assign
the legislation to committee. Katuntu said the bill "has no place
in our modern world", and that the bill's supporters are
"blackmailing" opponents by accusing them of being homosexual and
beholden to an international "pro-gay' agenda. Katuntu noted the
irony in these attacks, given that Bahati and Ssempa are the ones
receiving the most international support, but expressed concern
that many less courageous members of Parliament are susceptible to
this intimidation tactic.



--------------

Opposition Concerns

--------------



12. (C) On December 19 the editor of the Independent magazine,
Andrew Mwenda, told PolOff not to discount rumors that the
anti-homosexuality legislation and a separate draft bill
criminalizing HIV/AIDS transmission actually target two
presidential election contenders: Besigye and Otunnu. Mwenda is
one of Uganda's most respected journalists and is slated to teach
at Yale this spring as guest lecturer - provided Ugandan
authorities agree to return his passport. With 22 counts of
sedition and media related offenses pending against him, Mwenda is
also intricately familiar with the Ugandan government's strategy of
using spurious legal charges to hobble opponents. In September,
Otunnu accused state security services of running a smear campaign
about his sexual orientation and HIV status to discredit a
potential presidential bid (ref. D). Mwenda speculated that Uganda
could run a similar smear campaign against Besigye, forcing him to

KAMPALA 00001413 004 OF 004


curtail presidential campaign activities.



13. (SBU) On December 22, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC)
spokesman Wafula Oguttu said the opposition FDC fears Uganda will
use the anti-homosexuality legislation against Besigye, and
recalled government efforts to hobble Besigye's 2006 presidential
campaign by arresting him on spurious charges of rape, terrorism,
and treason. Oguttu speculated that Uganda could disrupt Besigye's
2011 campaign with phony homosexuality allegations.



-------------- -

Comment: Homophobic Demagogues

-------------- -



14. (C) Recent condemnations by Warren and other U.S. based
individuals have further isolated Bahati. His homophobia, however,
is blinding and incurable. Bahati, Buturo, and particularly
Ssempa's ability to channel popular anger over Uganda's
socio-political failings into violent hatred of a previously
unpopular but tolerated minority is chilling. Mwenda, who recently
received a copy of anti-gay activist and Holocaust revisionist
Scott Lively's "Pink Swastika" book from Ssempa, described Ssempa
as an anti-homosexuality "extremist." During the UHRC debate, a
Makerere University law professor compared contemporary Uganda to
Nazi Germany and said he opposes the legislation not because he
favors homosexuality, but because legalizing persecution of
homosexuals is the first step toward state sponsored persecution of
other minority groups. On December 22, Parliamentarian Katuntu
asked PolOff if the U.S. could provide an expert speaker to
reinforce arguments exposing the human rights ramifications of
Bahati's legislation in advance of parliamentary hearings. Helping
those attempting to counter Bahati, Buturo, and Ssempa to better
craft their arguments - perhaps through a digital video conference
or some other venue - is worth pursuing.
LANIER