The 2015 Right Livelihood Awards were announced today in Stockholm:
Three Laureates will share the cash award of SEK 3 million (ca. EUR 320 000):
SHEILA WATT-CLOUTIER (Canada) “for her lifelong work to protect the Inuit of the Arctic and defend their right to maintain their livelihoods and culture, which are acutely threatened by climate change.“
KASHA JACQUELINE NABAGESERA (Uganda) “for her courage and persistence, despite violence and intimidation, in working for the right of LGBTI people to a life free from prejudice and persecution.”Kasha was the Laureate of the 2011 Martin Ennals Award.
GINO STRADA, co-founder of EMERGENCY, (Italy) “for his great humanity and skill in providing outstanding medical and surgical services to the victims of conflict and injustice, while fearlessly addressing the causes of war.“
The 2015 Right Livelihood Honorary Award goes to TONY DE BRUM and THE PEOPLE OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS “in recognition of their vision and courage to take legal action against the nuclear powers for failing to honour their disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
The Awards will be presented at a ceremony in Stockholm on 30 November 2015, hosted by the Society for the Right Livelihood Award in the Swedish Parliament.
Under the title “FAMED UGANDAN ACTIVIST URGES UK HOME OFFICE NOT TO DEPORT LESBIAN” Melanie Nathan reports in her post of 11 December 2014 on O-blog-dee-o-blog-da that Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, the MEA laureate of 2011 has intervened strongly with the UK not to force Judith Twikiriz back to Uganda. “The UK has been very supportive of the Uganda Gay rights movement and it will be an embarrassment that your office doesn’t live up to its expectations in protecting those that need the protection most from persecution” Kasha writes in her letter. She would be sent back to the country where she already experienced torture and where she now faces likely persecution. The letter contains detailed arguments against deportation.
COPY OF THE LETTER to be found in the original post:
The Ugandan parliament has now passed the bill that many feared would come one day. Although it does not foresee the death penalty anymore it still puts life jail terms on ‘aggravated homosexuality’. Back on 3 February 2013, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, a Ugandan LGBT activist, who was the 2011 Laureate of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights, spoke with the Martin Ennals award about the risks and problems.
Homosexuality is already illegal in the country and punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but the so-called Kill the Gays bill, sponsored by MP David Bahati and first introduced in 2009, would penalize “aggravated homosexuality”— consensual same-sex acts committed by “repeat offenders,” anyone who is in a position of power, is HIV-positive, or uses intoxicating agents in the process — with capital punishment. The lesser “offense of homosexuality,” also criminalized in the bill, encompasses anyone who engages in a same-sex sexual relationship, enters into a same-sex marriage, or conspires to commit “aggravated homosexuality”. And almost the most shocking, the bill also calls for three-year prison sentences for friends, family members and neighbors who do not turn in “known homosexuals” to the police!
While the debate is again raging in the Ugandan parliament and internationally on adopting an anti-homosexuality bill with extremely severe punishments, Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders as adopted as its HRD of the Month: Brian Nkoyooyo.
‘Fit in’, instead of standing out, is a general security advice for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people in Uganda. “It is a matter of survival”, says Brian Nkoyooyo, Director of the grass root organisation Icebreakers that works with LGBT youth. Since he is a well-known gay activist in a country that is considered to be one of the worst countries for LGBT people, he is always on guard: “I live every day as it was my last”.
Icebreakers Uganda is a grass root organisation founded in 2004 that functions as a node for small networks, in both rural and urban Uganda. The discretely hidden office in Kampala is open throughout the week and plays an important part as a gathering point where people can meet and share experiences, use the library and get Internet access.
The interview gives considerable detail on the question and modalities of “coming out” linked to Brian’s own life experience.
The organisation strives to help people accept and be comfortable with their sexual orientation and gender identity, but calls for caution when coming out:
Interesting is that Brian states “Ironically, in 2009 the Anti Gay Bill actually led to a positive development for the LGBT movement in Uganda. Previously, only a few civil society organisations had included LGBT people’s rights in their work for human rights. With the tabling of the bill, a coalition of several civil society actors was formed to fight the Bill.” Kasha becoming the MEA Laureate in 2011 was another rallying point.
Foto: Ninke Liebert Photography
“As an activist, I can stand up and speak out. People may choose to listen and other may not. I can easily be made to shut up. But with art, it lasts for centuries and it reaches a wider audience. I prefer use of art and music because I know the biggest number of the community appreciates it compared to long boring speeches”.
Despite being constantly afraid, for his family’s sake, his gay and straight friends and himself, Brian continues to work because he has a vision for the LGBT community and Uganda at large. “A dream where people live harmoniously regardless of their differences: sexual orientation, race, gender and more. A society full of love”.
The Economist in its print edition of Nov 10th 2012 carries an interesting review of a new documentary on David Kato (pictured here with caption: “His death was not in vain”
In 2009 David Bahati, a backbench member of Parliament in deeply conservative Uganda, drew up a bill that proposed the death penalty for HIV-positive gay men and prison for anyone failing to turn in homosexuals. His proposals have been watered down, but not before prompting a surge in the homophobia and vigilantism that lie at the heart of an affecting new documentary, “Call Me Kuchu”.
When the film begins, a local tabloid newspaper, Rolling Stone, has printed the names and addresses of 100 kuchus (gay and transgender people) under such headlines as “Homo terror! We name and shame top gays in the city”. It is here that the viewer first meets David Kato (pictured), a sweet but resilient activist and Uganda’s first openly gay man. He is suing the newspaper. “If we keep on hiding,” he says, “they will say we’re not here.” Kato is joined by fellow kuchus: Stosh, who endured a “corrective” rape, and Naome, his best friend. Theirs is the human story behind the headlines. Meanwhile, the smarmy newspaper editor is almost unwatchable in his eagerness to harness the growing bigotry.
In exploring how much of this debate has been driven by religious leaders, the film-makers, Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, maintain a careful balance: footage of a visiting American evangelical group battling the “homosexual agenda” is interspersed with that of a staunch gay-rights supporter, a controversial Ugandan bishop, Christopher Senyonjo. Ubiquitous billboards quoting the Bible appear alternately ominous and benign. But it is Kato’s brutal murder, a year after the film started being made, that breaks the mood of polite even-handedness. Officially, his death is recorded as a burglary gone wrong. No one really believes that.
“Call Me Kuchu” is too raw and urgent to be called artful film-making. But its message rings loud and clear. Life for gay people in Uganda—as in much of Africa—is not just dangerous; it is deadly.
In the film on Kasha (MEA laureate 2011: http://www.martinennalsaward.org) there are also moving images of Kasha visiting David’s mother and his grave.
As I reported recently the Ugandan Government raided a regional workshop of gay rights NGOs as part of its continuing crusade against homosexuality. It is not surprising that on 20 June the news agency AFP reported that Uganda will ban 38 nongovernmental organisations for spreading homosexuality. According to AFP the minister for ethics and integrity, Simon Lokodo: “I have investigated and established beyond reasonable doubt that these NGOs have been involved in the promotion and recruitment in terms of the [gay] issues”. Lokodo did not specify which organisations would be de-registered but said that the list included international and Ugandan group.
“We will tell them to stop operating and they will not have the legal right to practice here”. Lokodo said he submitted the names of the organisations to the internal affairs ministry and hoped they would be de-listed in the near future. “The sooner we can do this the better,” Lokodo added for good measure.
MEA Laureate Kasha is likely to be in the firing line again.
Further to my post from yesterday I am glad to report that MEA Laureate Kahsa is for the moment safe. But I cannot resist to provide some quotes from the Guardian article which speak for themselves in demonstrating the state of mind of the minister concerned which is, to use an understatement, confused and, when invoking terrorism, even dangerous :
“Simon Lokodo, the minister for ethics and integrity, was accompanied by police to a hotel where he told activists their workshop was an “illegal assembly” and ordered them out. Defending his actions later, Lokodo told the Guardian: “You should not allow people to plan the destruction of your country. You cannot allow terrorists to organise to destroy your country. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists are reportedly referring to the shutting down of Tuesday’s workshop at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe as a “Valentine’s massacre”. But Lokodo expressed no regrets. “It was an illegal meeting because we were not informed,” he said. “We found out the meeting was being organised by people from within and without. People from Europe and other African countries outside Uganda. They were recruiting people to go out and divulge the ideology of LGBT. In Uganda, the culture, tradition and laws do not support bestiality and lesbianism. They were illegally associating.” He added: “We tolerate them, we give them liberty and freedom to do their business, but we don’t like them to organise and associate.”
The minister also tried to order the arrest of Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, a prominent LGBT rights activist. The winner of the 2011 Martin Ennals award for human rights defenders was forced to flee the hotel. “I wanted to arrest a lady who was abusing me and calling me a liar,” Lokodo said. “I want to subject her to a court of law. She must be arrested. This is hooliganism. You cannot be insulted in this country. We must be a civilised country. This particular one was talking like she came from the bush.”
Amnesty International reports today that a Ugandan cabinet minister raided a workshop run by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists in Entebbe.
The Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Simon Lokodo, who was accompanied by police, announced that the workshop was illegal and ordered the rights activists out of the hotel where it was being held. He told activists that if they did not leave immediately, he would use force against them.
“This is an outrageous attempt to prevent lawful and peaceful activities of human rights defenders in Uganda,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
The Minister also attempted to order the arrest of Kasha Jacqueline Nabagasera, a prominent LGBT rights activist and winner of the 2011 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, who was forced to flee from the hotel. The reasons for the attempted arrest were not immediately clear, but were reported to be linked to Kasha Jacqueline’s attempt to challenge the Minister’s actions.
The move comes days after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was re-tabled in the Ugandan Parliament. The Government of Uganda has sought to distance itself from the Bill, stating that the bill did not enjoy government support. However, “the Government’s claimed opposition to the Bill needs to be supported through their actions. The Ugandan government must allow legitimate, peaceful gatherings of human rights defenders, including those working on LGBT rights,” said Salil Shetty.
If the Anti-Homosexuality Bill becomes law, it would violate international human rights law and lead to further human rights violations.
The first formal report on the state of LGBT human rights was presented to the UN General Assembly on Thursday 15 December by Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human rights, who has been an outspoken supporter of LGBT human rights. This the result of the adoption of a Resolution by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011 asking for this study.
She concludes that on the basis of the information presented in this report, a pattern of human rights violations emerges that demands a response. “Governments and inter-governmental bodies have often overlooked violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” she said. LGBT people face widespread discrimination everywhere in the world and are subjected to extreme violence, including rape, beatings and torture, evidenced by confirmed reports of mutilation and castration that were characterized by a “high degree of cruelty” .
LGBT persons also face criminal punishment in 76 countries and risk capital punishment in five countries, including Iran, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. The report lays out the evidence of widespread discrimination and arbitrary arrests and criminal punishment based upon sexual orientation and gender identity.
tened by climate change.“
In 2009 David Bahati, a backbench member of Parliament in deeply conservative Uganda, drew up a bill that proposed the death penalty for HIV-positive gay men and prison for anyone failing to turn in homosexuals. His proposals have been watered down, but not before prompting a surge in the homophobia and vigilantism that lie at the heart of an affecting new documentary, “Call Me Kuchu”.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 