ugandan transgender people face the most hate crimes

By Nthateng Mhlambiso (BTM Senior Reporter)

UGANDA – July 3, 2008: Detention and mistreatment of two transgender men at Kabalaga Police Station on 11 May this year is evidence that alienation and violation of rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Uganda are on the rise.

This is according to Frank Mugisha, Co-Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who believes that transgender people face the most hate crimes in that country.

Mugisha hinted following the arrest of George Oundo and Dati Umutuguha, both transgender men usually clad in feminine clothes, who were charged of public nuisance.

Ounda and Umutuguha were on a drinking spree at Capital Pub in Kabalaga when, at around 22:00 PM, two men came in to sit next to them and started calling them Kuchu, which is a local reference coined by the Ugandan LGBTI  movement to identify themselves in public without revealing their sexual identities.

Minutes after that, the bouncer of the club allegedly asked the two transmen if they were men or women.

“We said we are men and he [the bouncer] said we are trying to bring homosexuality in Kabalaga. He then took us to the porch in front of the club where, together with the club manager and three other employees, they started slapping us, lifting our clothes and squeezing our chests to see if we have breasts”, Oundo exclaimed.

After the bouncers who took them to Kabalaga Police Station told police officers that they (Oundo and Umutuguha) were trying to bring homosexuality to the area, “they started slapping us. They made us remove our shoes and checked our pockets, and consequently took 40 000 Ugandan shilling from Dati’s pockets but did not record [count] it”, Oundo narrated.

The four days they spent in police cells, Oundo and Umutuguha slept alongside the toilets. They were beaten up, ate only once a day and experienced hate speech from other prisoners who even tried to assault them sexually.
According to Julius Kaggwa of Uganda Transgender, Transsexual, and Intersex Support Group, the first court appearance was on 16 May this year at Makidye Grade 2 Courts where they were released on bail of UGX 200 000 each, paid by David Kato who is a board member of SMUG.
The second court appearance was on 2 June without a police case filed, and without any witnesses present, which led to proceedings being postponed to 27 June.

During the 27 June hearing, the Makidye Grade 2 Courts magistrate dismissed the case because there were still no witnesses present and no police case file.

Even after their case was dismissed the two transmen say they experience hate speech from taxi drivers who have threatened to burn them.

“I do not go out at night as I fear for my life, and I need to move from this area as I no longer feel safe”, Oundo said.

He urged Amnesty International and other human rights agencies to intervene as they fear that police might come after them at any time.