UK deporting gay man to Uganda tomorrow. Please sign petition

[Mikey1]

Have signed this petition. I hope everyone will. The situation in Uganda is now critical and the threat of life imprisonment or execution for Gay men and rape of Lesbian women is becoming more common.
Thanks to Marshlander for raising this important issue

[marshlander]

Mikey1, I have raised this issue many times in the past in a thread on the world news forum. However, since the news forums threads never seem to make it back into the "charts" for some reason (one of the anomolies of GaySpeak functionality) I felt it necessary to begin another thread under the politics/activism forum where new messages will bring it back to visibility. Weird, that, but necessary given the time available. I have also posted links to the petition to my social networking contacts.

[Mikey1]

Thanks Marshlander I've been tweeting the link all day I remember well the last two young men in Uganda that were persecuted, great pity time is so short fingers crossed mile:

[marshlander]

From today's Pink News

A Liberal Democrat MP and a Ugandan bishop are calling for a gay asylum seeker to be given the right to stay in the UK.

Mike Hancock, the MP for Portsmouth South, and Anglican Bishop Christopher Senyonjo say that 33-year-old Robert Segwanyi will face harassment and possibly violence if he is sent home ...



Bishop Senyonjo said that the situation for LGBT people in Uganda is “dire and getting worse” and spoke of “witch-hunts” against people believed to be gay.

He said: “Any LGBT person returned to Uganda would face this deteriorating situation. Even if they try not to be public concerning their sexuality they will face questioning if they are unmarried, this is the nature of the “witch hunt”. It is near impossible for anyone to hide.

“As well they will undoubtedly face questioning at the airport and will likely face harassment and possibly violence from the police, as we have witnessed before. It is not safe to return anyone who is LGBT or perceived to be LGBT to Uganda.”

Those who have met Mr Segwanyi, including John Bosco Nyombi, a gay man who won asylum in the UK, say he is clearly gay and that his story of being harassed and burnt with molten plastic is credible.

Almost 3,500 people have signed a petition calling for his deportation to be halted.

His supporters hope a fresh appeal can be made today.

more

[marshlander]

In another deportation case Joseph Kaute is still in the UK, because the captain of the Air France aeroplane refused to allow him on board. The captain has the final responsibility for ensuring the safety of all on board a flight.

Earlier today, (6th August 2011) the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC) posted on Twitter: “Great news - Joseph Kuate didn't fly this morning! Details later. Thanx to all who helped in protest. Now fight for sanctuary begins.”

■ International law permits the captain of any aircraft the right not to carry any passenger he or her thinks might affect the safety of the flight. The captain is the sole arbiter.

■ UPDATE (August 10). Radio France International, which took an interest in this story because of the 'Air France' angle, is reporting that Mr, Kuate has been released on bail from Harmondsworth by the Border Agency. The report, by Daniel Finnan, includes the stance of Air France and the press office who confirmed that the pilot’s decision is final when it comes to questions over carrying certain passengers if problems arise. “Kaute’s objection to deportation and being accompanied by UK Border Agency minders would have contributed to the decision to eject him from the Yaoundé-bound plane, the airline says," Mr. Finnan's report states. more

If Air France can do it, so can any other carrier. It comes to something, though, when a humanitarian decision cannot be made by our own officials and the obvious decent action is left up to the captain of an aeroplane. Sometimes I am so ashamed of some of my fellow Brits. :frown:

[marshlander]

An hour before the flight was due to leave last night Mr Segwanyi's solicitor was informed that the deportation has been deferred pending further investigation. This battle isn't over, but at least we hope he will get a fair hearing now.

Thank you everyone who took the trouble to make their voices heard.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2011/08/19/uga...-reprieve/

[princealbertofb]

Yay for now! mile:

[marshlander]

Hmm, the thread I started on the situation in Uganda is now "closed", so I'll record a couple of items of news here.

First of all the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which some agencies have wrongly described as having been thrown out, is very much alive. The only reason it did not make progress during the last Parliament is that it ran out of time. Currently time in the Ugandan Parliament is being taken up with setting the budget, but that business looks like being finished soon, leaving time for other legislation. David Bahati, the MP who is sponsoring the AHB has been busy behind the scenes manoeuvring it back into position for when debating time becomes available. If passed the bill would mean the current very tough jail sentences for homosexual acts would, in some cases be turned into death sentences.

http://www.sdgln.com/news/2011/08/22/uga...-gays-bill


I suppose this should come under a separate thread, but I am tired with seeing so much bad news come from Uganda. I just thought I would add this. Members of the LGBTI campaigning group, Sexual Minorities Uganda, are taking matters in hand by going out on the streets and talking to people directly to fight the fears and lies that are being spread about us. I can only stand in awe at the courage of these people in such a deeply homophobic society.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Uganda...e-20110819

[marshlander]

... and for anyone near Belfast, you have an opportunity to hear about the situation in Uganda in detail on Thursday at The Amnesty Pride Lecture.

Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera is the founder and executive director of Freedom and Roam Uganda, a leading LGBT rights organization.

In January, her colleague David Kato was murdered after the Ugandan tabloid Rolling Stone published a “gay list” and called for the people named in the list to be hanged. Nabagesera’s name also appears on the list.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International said:

"Kasha Nabagesera is a courageous woman and we are delighted to bring her to Belfast. In the face of ongoing threats and attacks for her work, she has continued to speak out on behalf of Uganda’s LGBT community. She constantly has to shift from house to house, never staying too long in the same place, yet her voice for human rights in Uganda has never been dimmed.

"In recent years human Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of discrimination, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, torture and other ill-treatment on the basis of sexual orientation in Uganda, and against activists exposing violations against the LGBT community. Kasha is here to tell people in Northern Ireland the real stories behind our reports and to explain how people here can support gay people in Uganda."

Ms Nabagesera is the winner of the prestigious 2011 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The honour is designed to publicise the recipient’s work and help protect them from the dangers they face.

The Amnesty Pride Lecture, "The struggle for gay rights in Uganda", will take place at 7:15pm on Thursday 25 August in the Black Box, Hill Street in Belfast, with a lecture followed by a question and answer session hosted by William Crawley.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19640