Tragedy as Gay Activist David Kato Murdered


By Melanie Nathan

Frank Mugisha, head of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), just reported that his colleague in SMUG, David Kato, has been murdered in Kampala. Kato was also one of the plaintiffs in the Rolling Stone defamation case in Uganda. The Rolling Stone promised to out 100 homosexuals, and had started doing so, when a Ugandan judge halted the tabloid, saying that such efforts violated the rights of the plaintiffs. You can find a link to the decision here. (Warren Throckmorton.)

Kato had expressed fear for his safety after the verdict, telling AlertNet:

David Kato, one of the plaintiffs, said that he had been living in terror ever since he was named by the newspaper.

''Since we got exposed by Rolling Stone, we have been living like fugitives in our own country,'' he said. ''We have to keep shifting houses for fear of being attacked. Some of the gays have decided to leave the city and head to rural areas in order to protect themselves.''

Human Rights Watch in a Statement said: ''The government should ensure that members of Uganda's LGBT community have adequate protection from violence and take prompt action against all threats or hate speech likely to incite violence, discrimination, or hostility toward them.''

David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community,'' said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. ''David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan LGBT people bravely and will be sorely missed.''

Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato's home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head with a hammer and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato's lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.

Kato had been a leading voice in the fight against the Anti Homosexuality Bill, which has been before Uganda's parliament since October 15, 2009. While homosexual sex is already illegal in Uganda, the proposed law would criminalize all homosexuality, making it punishable by a fine and life imprisonment. ''Repeat offenders'' and those who are HIV positive would be subject to the death penalty. The bill would also oblige anyone with knowledge of someone who is or might be a homosexual to report that person to the police within 24 hours

I have been working on the case of Brenda Namigadde, as a reporter and as an activist. Brenda may be deported from the UK on this Friday. Earlier reports can be read what follows is some background, the reports and the importance of keeping the focus on getting Brenda out of her deportation setting, out of custody detention and into a real life in the UK.