Kampala (dpa) – Leading Ugandan rights activist Kasha Jacqueline Nabagasera has gone into hiding, after the government raided a workshop that she organized for the gay community and tried to arrest her. “I am worried about my safety because of the attempt to arrest me yesterday. Now, I am taking precautions about my movements,” Nabagasera told dpa in an interview Wednesday. She asked that her exact whereabouts in the East African country not be made public. The activist is asking Western donor governments – who give the country vital budget support – to step in and help her community. “The donor money is tax payers' money from Europe or the US, and these tax payers must be pained if this money is used to suppress sections of Ugandan society,” Nabagasera said. Minister for Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo, accompanied by police, raided the workshop late Tuesday in Entebbe, a city 42 kilometres south-east of the capital, demanding that the activists disperse or force would be used against them. Nabagasera, witnesses said, stood up the minister, telling him the meeting was legal and he had no right to close it. She only narrowly managed to slip out of the building, escape arrest and go into hiding. The incident occurred about a week after a member of parliament re-introduced a proposal for an anti-homosexual bill which demands harsh penalties for leading a gay lifestyle, ranging from a few years in jail to life imprisonment and the death sentence. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but a growing conservative movement is calling for even tougher laws. “The (draft) bill is very unconstitutional and it shows how religious fundamentalism is taking control of this country,” said Nabagasera, who last year was given the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in Geneva. “The background for all this homophobia is Christian fundamentalism, as religious people have been campaigning against us for long,” she asserted. The crackdown on the workshop was slammed by Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary general, as “an outrageous attempt to prevent lawful and peaceful activities of human rights defenders in Uganda.” Nabagasera believes the government is losing control to fundamentalists. “The Ugandan government should sit down and take control of the human rights situation in the country. It should make sure that human rights are observed. It should go back to the drawing board and see to it that minority rights are protected,” the activist said. “It should not send its forces to attack groups like gay people,” she added. This is not the first time Nabagasera has felt under direct attack. Uganda's Rolling Stone tabloid in late 2010 published the names of people it claimed were gay – including Nabagasera and her colleague David Kato – with the headline “Hang Them.” Three months later, Kato was murdered. After the anti-gay bill was first introduced in 2009, foreign donors – including European countries and the United States – began to get tough with the government, saying they would cut aid if the draft became law. The global outcry caused the bill to be shelved during the previous session of parliament, but it was re-introduced after the legislative house reopened this year. Nabagasera wants more help from the international community, as the gay community comes under continuous threat. “You cannot continue giving aid to this country and the government (then) uses it to suppress us. There should be some conditions attached to this money because it is being used to muzzle us.” Nabagasera said. “The donors should discuss issues of human rights and democracy with the Ugandan government because the Ugandan government does not care about these issues,” she said. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/V5XmR Tags: Donors, LGBT, Uganda Section: East Africa, Features, Human Rights, Latest News
