UNDER SECRETARY OTERO'S MEETING WITH HUMAN RIGHTS AND GLBT ACTIVISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KAMPALA 000073



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/16

TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, KDEM, UG

SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY OTERO'S MEETING WITH HUMAN RIGHTS AND GLBT

ACTIVISTS



REF: 09 KAMPALA 1365; 09 KAMPALA 1024; 10 KAMPALA 47; 10 KAMPALA 45

10 KAMPALA 55; 09 KAMPALA 1276



DERIVED FROM: DSCG 05-1 B, D



1. (C) Summary: Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs

Maria Otero discussed the anti-homosexuality bill and other human

rights concerns with local activists on January 29. The activists

expressed appreciation for U.S. support and described their own

efforts to combat the bill. Several human rights defenders but not

members of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) community

situated the anti-homosexuality bill within a broader context of

growing state sponsored limitations of human rights and democratic

freedoms in advance of the February 2011 presidential elections,

and urged the U.S. to expand condemnation of the anti-homosexuality

bill to cover other human rights concerns. End Summary







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U.S. Support for GLBT Rights in Uganda



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2. (C) Seven human rights activists participated in a roundtable

discussion with Under Secretary Otero and DRL Deputy Assistant

Secretary Daniel Baer on January 29. Three participants - Val

Kalende, Frank Mugisha, and Julius Kaggwa - belong to Uganda's GLBT

community and are outspoken opponents of anti-homosexuality bill.

Kalende is the Director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, an underground

organization dedicated to defending the rights of lesbian women in

Uganda. Mugisha is the Director of Sexual Minorities of Uganda

(SMUG). Kaggwa directs the Support Initiative for People with

Atypical Sex Development and recently testified on the

anti-homosexuality bill before the Tom Lantos Human Rights

Commission in Washington. Other roundtable participants included

HIV/AIDS activist Major Rubaramira Ruanga, who has publicly

denounced the bill; the Director of the Foundation for Human Rights

Initiative (FHRI),Livingston Ssewanyana, which opposes the bill

but has been hesitant to say so publicly ; Hassan Shire Sheikh, the

Director of East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders

Project,; and Lad Rwakafuzi, the only Ugandan lawyer willing to

openly provide legal services to the GLBT community.







3. (C) Under Secretary Otero and DAS Baer stressed the U.S.

commitment to democracy and human rights, highlighted Secretary

Clinton's recent Georgetown University speech, and said

safeguarding human rights is a central tenet of U.S. foreign

policy. DAS Baer assured participants that the U.S. is committed to

defending universal principles of human rights and will continue to

engage with other nations on human rights-related concerns. Under

Secretary Otero noted that our engagement is intended to produce

not just press headlines but real accomplishments and change, and

invited participants to discuss the impact of the

anti-homosexuality bill and recommendations for preventing its

passage.







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Anti-Homosexuality and Anti-Human Rights



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4. (C) As Uganda's foremost human rights activist, FHRI Director

Ssewanyana placed the anti-homosexuality bill in the context of a

general trend toward restricted human rights and democratic

freedoms in Uganda. He said the anti-homosexuality bill is one of

many regressive legislative initiatives that are not in the

interests of all Ugandans and are intended to tilt the February

2011 presidential elections in the government's favor. Ssewanyana

cited draft legislation to expand the Security Ministry's

monitoring of electronic communications, expanded and perhaps

politically motivated enforcement of the 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act,

the recently passed Land Amendment Act (ref. A),reduced press



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freedoms, and the slow pace of electoral reform as pressing human

rights concerns. He encouraged the U.S. to treat these issues in

the same manner as the anti-homosexuality bill, and said the

anti-homosexuality issue is a government "gimmick" to divert

attention away from other assaults on human rights and democratic

freedoms that will ultimately undermine the integrity of the 2011

elections.







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Local GLBT Views



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5. (C) Julius Kaggwa agreed that threats to human rights in Uganda

are growing, but said the anti-homosexuality bill is the most

regressive legislation yet introduced. Kaggwa described the bill as

a "gag" order to prevent anyone from talking about homosexuals or

acknowledging that sexual minorities are entitled to rights as

human beings. He referred to Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo's

proclamation that homosexuality is not a human rights issue, and

wondered why the Ugandan government is so intent on targeting such

a small population of individuals. Kaggwa agreed that homosexuality

is the least of Uganda's problems, and said the bill's proponents

are scapegoating homosexuals for political reasons.







6. (C) SMUG Director Mugisha said Uganda's GLBT community has

received considerable support from human rights groups and

diplomatic missions, but that the draft bill is already negatively

impacting homosexuals. Mugisha said threats have increased, and

alleged that some homosexuals have been arrested and detained by

authorities and homophobic extremists eager to build legal cases in

advance of the legislation's ratification. He said state-sponsored

homophobia is filtering down even to low level government officials

in rural areas.







7. (C) Val Kalende said she reads about the anti-homosexuality bill

every day, trying to understand why MP David Bahati would introduce

such a bill. Kalende said Bahati is not trying to protect the

Ugandan heterosexual family or children, as he claims, but to

instill fear and intimidation. She said Members of Parliament who

privately oppose the bill fear losing their seats if they speak out

against the legislation, and therefore support the bill in public

and will vote for it should it ever reach the parliamentary floor.

Kalende said Bahati is blaming homosexuals for the spread HIV/AIDS,

pornography, and increasing incidents of rape and defilement, and

that the legislation is a diversionary ploy intended to steer

attention away from real issues like corruption and the 2011

elections. She noted that the bill is already a political tool, as

some have accused presidential aspirant Olara Otunnu of being gay

(ref. B). NOTE: On February 4, Kalende told PolOff that she is not

aware of any homosexuals who have been arrested by police since the

bill was submitted in October (septel). END NOTE.







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Recommendations for Engagement on Human Rights



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8.(C) Under Secretary Otero asked how local human rights activists

are working to defeat the legislation, what forms of technology

they are using, and what the U.S. can do to support these

initiatives. Kaggwa said rallying local voices against the bill is

key, and that a coalition of more than 20 local NGOs is using

public dialogues, media outreach, and publications to discredit the

rhetoric of the bill's proponents, translate the bill into layman's

terms, and raise awareness of how the legislation will impact not

only homosexuals but all aspects of Ugandan society. In December,

the coalition published a professionally produced booklet on the

bill, complete with press clips from local and international media;

statements of condemnation by Secretary Clinton, Rick Warren, and

others; and transcripts from the Rachel Maddow show. Kaggwa noted



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that even parents who wish their children were not gay do not want

them to be executed, and that most Ugandans support the bill

because they wrongly believe the legislation will impact only

homosexuals.







9.(C) Both Kaggwa and Mugisha said local GLBT activists are using

cellphones, blogs, and the internet to the extent possible, but

stressed concerns about government monitoring of electronic

communications. Kaggwa said one local human rights NGO had to

switch its domain name after someone hacked its email address, and

Mugisha and Kalende said they and other activists have been forced

to switch telephones and restrict electronic communications to

avoid harassment and eavesdropping.







10. (C) Retired Major Ruranga thanked the U.S. for standing up for

the right of Ugandan homosexuals to be happy, and attributed

overwhelming domestic homophobia to a general lack of civic

education. He said the Ugandan leaders at the forefront of the

anti-homosexuality bill are using the issue to build populist,

xenophobic support. Ruranga dismissed claims that homosexuality is

an un-African, foreign import, noting that he witnessed

homosexuality among cattle herders as a boy in rural Uganda. He

warned that reporting requirements in the bill will result in

increased HIV/AIDS rates and an explosion of Ugandan LGBT asylum

seekers.







11. (C) Human rights lawyer Rwakfuzi said while international

pressure may block the bill, homophobia in Uganda remains and is

fanned by religious leaders. He said the bill's proponents were

shocked by the level of international condemnation, and urged the

U.S. to apply this kind of direct engagement to other human rights

issues like electoral reforms, press freedoms, the use of torture,

and illegal detention. Hassan Shire Sheikh added that several

governments in East Africa have proposed laws restricting freedoms

of the press, speech, assembly, and minority rights. Sheikh also

hailed Kalende's courage for speaking out publicly against the bill

and remaining in Uganda - despite increasing threats and harassment

- to defend GLBT rights. He recommended that the State Department

dedicate a section of its annual human rights report to the

specific acknowledgement of critical human rights defenders in each

country, as this would increase the legitimacy and visibility of

their work and perhaps also afford some level of protection.







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Comment: Fighting State Sponsored Homophobia



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12. (C) International and particularly American condemnation of the

anti-homosexuality bill has forced Ugandan leaders to reconsider

their initial support for Bahati's legislation. However, Ugandan

officials continue to give conflicting assessments of the bill's

prognosis. Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said the bill will die a

natural death in Parliament (ref. C). On February 5, Ethics

Minister Buturo said an amended version of the bill - without

provisions on capital punishment - will reach the parliamentary

floor for a vote. President Museveni told the Ambassador the bill

would be scrapped or amended (ref. D),and State Minister for

International Affairs Henry Okello Oryem has said Cabinet wants to

shelve the bill but also find a "win-win" solution acceptable to

all sides (ref. E). Even if draft bill is shelved in the weeks

ahead, rampant homophobia in Uganda won't go away. Local efforts to

deconstruct Uganda's anti-homosexuality movement go well beyond

public condemnation of the anti-homosexuality bill by directly

challenging Uganda's pervasive homophobia. These efforts are worthy

of additional and sustained support.







12. (C) In his meeting in October with Assistant Secretary Carson,

even President Museveni said the anti-homosexuality bill would

"divert us" (ref. F). Local human rights activists fear this is

exactly the point - to divert the Ugandan populace and

international donors during a contentious and competitive election



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year. As the debate over the anti-homosexuality bill extends into

its sixth month, we remain cognizant of Livingstone Ssewanyana's

reminder not let the anti-homosexuality bill obscure other

limitations on human rights and democratic freedoms.

LANIER