CAIRO: A LGBT rights workshop was raided by armed police on Monday in Uganda's capital, Kampala, Amnesty International reported in a press statement. According to the report, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) was organizing a series of workshops attended by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists when armed police stormed the facility. At least five staff members from the rights organization were arrested along with 12 participants. Some of the participants, who were from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were able to escape after being informed by members of the media that the police were on their way. The London-based rights organization called on the police to end the harassment of the LGBT community in Uganda. “This ludicrous and senseless harassment of human rights activists has no basis in law whatsoever and has to stop,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International's deputy director for Africa. “We are seeing a worrying pattern emerging whereby the Ugandan authorities engage in arbitrary activities deliberately designed to intimidate and threaten legitimate human rights work.” “The participants in this workshop had done absolutely nothing wrong and we call on the police to end this outrageous behaviour which makes a mockery of Uganda's human rights obligations,” she added.
