Uganda: Man’s release sparks fresh calls for LGBTQI+ rights to be upheld

ARTICLE 19 welcomes the release of Michael Opolot on bail after he spent nearly a year in pre-trial detention under Uganda's anti-homosexuality law. We urge the government to drop all charges against him, and reiterate our call for the government to annul all laws criminalising sexual orientation, gender identity, and consensual sexual conduct, end the crackdown on the LGBTQI+ community, and condemn violence against all minorities, including LGBTQI+ individuals.

Michael Opolot, 21, was arrested on 15 August, 2023, and was initially charged with aggravated homosexuality. He was remanded in custody by a court in Soroti in north-eastern Uganda. Authorities gave no explanation for Opolot's arrest as he gathered with others to witness the visit by the Ugandan president's son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to the town of Soroti. According to reports, Opolot was charged with 'aggravated homosexuality' for engaging in 'unlawful sexual intercourse' with a 41-year-old man, an offence carrying the death penalty in Uganda.

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 was approved by parliament in May 2023 and subsequently signed into law on 29 May, 2023 by President Yoweri Museveni. When the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 was passed in 2023, ARTICLE 19 stood in solidarity with Uganda's LGBTQI+ community, warning of its disparities with international human rights standards as well as Uganda's constitution. We highlighted how the law infringes upon the rights of LGBTQI+ communities to freedom of expression, association, and non-discrimination, as guaranteed by the Ugandan Constitution and international human rights standards, as well as leading to an increase in violent attacks and other hate crimes against community members and the possibility of very harsh sentences.

In December 2023, Ugandan activists filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the law. They argued that it violates laws guaranteed in Uganda's constitution as well as international human rights standards, including freedom from discrimination and rights to privacy and freedom of thought, conscience, and belief.

However, in April 2024 Uganda's Constitutional Court upheld the abusive and radical provisions of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act but voided some provisions that it said were inconsistent with certain fundamental human rights: specifically, the right to health, privacy and freedom of religion. The portions of the act that were voided had criminalised the letting of premises for use for 'homosexual acts' and failure to report homosexual acts. Under the Anti-Homosexuality Act, citizens had an obligation to report anyone they suspected of engaging in homosexuality.

We call on the government of Uganda to honour the commitments made upon the country's ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which protect all individuals from discrimination, including based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

We specifically urge the government to drop all charges against Michael Opolot, and any other individual/group prosecuted for their real or perceived sexual orientation and/or gender identities. We also reiterate our call to the government of Uganda to:

1. Annul all laws criminalising sexual orientation, gender identity, and consensual sexual conduct.
2. Stop harassing and restricting the activities of LGBTQI+ rights groups, and
3. End its crackdown on LGBTQI+ individuals and explicitly condemn violence against all minorities, including LGBTQI+ individuals.