Amnesty International has condemned Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo who threatened to suppress the activities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights activists and “rehabilitate” LGBTI people.
Mr Lokodo told journalists that his office was also developing a programme to “rehabilitate” LGBTI people “with the ultimate aim of giving them a chance to live normal lives again”.
“The minister’s remarks coming only a few days after police assaulted peaceful attendees at a private LGBTI Pride event in Kampala are hugely irresponsible and are tantamount to advocacy of hatred and incitement to discrimination,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
She added: “The Ugandan government should be working to bring to account those responsible for the criminal attack that left one person hospitalised with serious injuries, and dozens more injured, instead of condoning these attacks and inciting further hostility against LGBTI people.”