Last week on November 22, High court judge Dr Douglas Singiza awarded Shs 150m to 20 youths who in 2020 were arrested, paraded in front of cameras, humiliated and tortured on grounds that they were engaged in homosexuality.
At the time, the country had been locked down to stem the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and movement was greatly restricted. I feel elated about the court decision it is a victory for human rights defenders.
Anyone who saw the footage can remember how the young men pleaded to their tormentors to let them free but police and local leaders of Kyengera, a Kampala suburb, told whoever cared to listen that they have busted an LGBTQ network in the area.
At the time, I worked so hard during those difficult times of Covid-19 with our legal and other partners to make sure that these Ugandan LGBTQ members are set free. In fact, we even wrote to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for consideration under its regular communication procedure.
The Working Group sent a communication on this case to the government of Uganda, to which the Ugandan government gave a response. We gave this case utmost advocacy like we do with many of our cases. So, one may wonder what does this judgment means for the LGBTQ+ community in Uganda.
On the surface, it means so much to the LGBTQ community in Uganda but sends a very strong message to authorities who arrest LGBTQ+ Ugandans, black mail and torture them or expose them to media. It means someone in this case elected officers or law enforcement can be liable independently and end up paying a fine; they cannot commit crimes against a vulnerable community and hide behind the Attorney General.
Therefore, the significance of this ruling in the context of previous court decisions on LGBTQ+ related cases is that Ugandans both ordinary Ugandans and those in authority should note that; by someone being LGBTQ+, it does not mean they should not have rights and freedoms granted in our own Constitution.
For example, freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment as well as freedom of association and assembly and privacy. Back in 2008, my fellow human rights activist Victor Mukasa was awarded damages when local authorities broke into his house illegally because they suspected him to belong to LGBTQ+.
Similarly, the Rolling Stone tabloid was stopped from publishing names and photos of people perceived to be gay. I still see some Ugandan tabloids and blogs 'outing' LGBTQ+ Ugandans they should know that, there is a precedent from our own courts saying this is illegal and causes harm to the individuals published.
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Going forward, I think this latest court decision will set a good legal precedent involving the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in Uganda. I am happy with the decision and see it as a huge victory. I am very sure even universities will teach their law students about the case.
Even with the victory, there is no hiding the fact that the last three years have been very challenging for the LGBTQ community in Uganda. Ugandan society has been poisoned with so much misinformation about the LGBTQ community, very many fabrications as seen in the media, even towards my personality - exposing me and colleagues to so much danger, violence and trauma.
Nonetheless, as human rights activists, we have fought on and God knows it has been fire on fire every day. Some many community members have 'burnt-out' from the constant attacks and their anxiety and paranoia is enormous.
Matters were not helped mid this year when the anti-gay law passed by government. This has made it worse, but as many of the colleagues may have seen, there is no giving up.
We have to survive amidst all this, we are still a very strong community and it is such wins here and there like in last week's ruling that keep us hopeful. I would like to repeat what I said back then.
I appeal to law enforcement officers in Uganda to refrain from using their powers to impose homophobia upon the LGBTIQ community. When you look at it, the arrest and incarceration of these young men wasn't necessary.
The author is a human and civil rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize nominee
