CAIRO: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and three other fellow Nobel Laureates have called on the world to support and respect gay rights, singling out Uganda for its recent crackdown on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The statement issued by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice Human Rights and Human Rights was released in conjunction with Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) in response to the country's government restricting the rights of LGBT people. Tutu, Professor Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and Muhammad Yunus said in the statement that “As a global community of individuals dedicated to a more peaceful and just world, we wish to express our grave concern as to how our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) brothers and sisters are being treated across the globe. “Collectively we represent a diverse array of countries and cultures. Today more than ever, we wish to express that the same cultural values, which have fostered and supported our lifelong quests for peace, also command us to speak out against the violence and discrimination our fellow human beings are enduring every day solely because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex. “By expressing our solidarity with LGBTI people around the world, we recognize the inherent dignity and human rights of all individuals, without prejudice or intolerance, and we take an important step forward in our collective journey toward peace.” Frank Mugisha, executive director of SMUG and 2011 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate, said: “It is clear that our government and Christian leaders are escalating their campaign of intimidation and harassment against the LGBTI community in Uganda. “We welcome the moral courage of Archbishop Tutu and other world leaders, echoing their call to allow LGBTI people to live in peace in Uganda.” Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, along with more than 30 other countries in Africa, and activists say few Africans are openly gay, fearing imprisonment, violence and losing their jobs. The Uganda government last Wednesday announced it was banning 38 non-governmental organizations it accuses of promoting homosexuality and recruiting children. The government move came only two days after a workshop promoting LGBT rights in the county's capital, Kampala, was raided by police. 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.
