UGANDA: HOMOPHOBE EXTREMISTS AND HOMOSEXUAL SCAPEGOATS

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.







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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 procedures 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.



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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.







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One-Sided Human Rights Debate



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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.







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Buturo - He's Back



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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.







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Parliamentary Debate in March or April



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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.







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Opposition Concerns



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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



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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.







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Comment: Homophobic Demagogues



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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