Q
QuasiCatholic
Guest
Someone closed the earlier thread about human rights violations in Uganda and whether the church should take some sort of official stand on them. But we never got an answer to one of the questions being debated, which was whether or not there was any proof of human rights violations (as opposed to just regular enforcement of a law against homosexuality).
Here is the relevant section from the summary of a recent Amnesty International report on Uganda.
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*Legitimizing abuses **
While the Anti-Homosexuality Act was in force people who identified as – or were perceived to be – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) were arbitrarily arrested, including when reporting crimes against them. Some were beaten and groped by police and other detainees in custody.
… The Anti-Homosexuality Act also led to LGBTI people being evicted from their homes and losing their jobs. LGBTI people and women were subject to mob attacks in the streets while the Anti-Homosexuality Act was in force and immediately after the Anti-Pornography Act was signed.
“The vague wording of these laws has caused them to be interpreted by the public in a dangerous way. Many have taken the law into their own hands through mob justice and abuses against women and LGBTI people,” said Sarah Jackson.
The law in question was overturned based on a technicality, but the government has plans to re-introduce it. As this is a country that is 80% Christian and 40% Catholic, I think these abuses should be especially concerning to all of us, both for the nature of the acts themselves and for how they might reflect on our faith. It also seems like a place where the Catholic and Anglican churches could actually do some good by weighing in, because they might actually hold enough sway there to change policy.
Here is the relevant section from the summary of a recent Amnesty International report on Uganda.
*
*Legitimizing abuses **
While the Anti-Homosexuality Act was in force people who identified as – or were perceived to be – lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) were arbitrarily arrested, including when reporting crimes against them. Some were beaten and groped by police and other detainees in custody.
… The Anti-Homosexuality Act also led to LGBTI people being evicted from their homes and losing their jobs. LGBTI people and women were subject to mob attacks in the streets while the Anti-Homosexuality Act was in force and immediately after the Anti-Pornography Act was signed.
“The vague wording of these laws has caused them to be interpreted by the public in a dangerous way. Many have taken the law into their own hands through mob justice and abuses against women and LGBTI people,” said Sarah Jackson.
The law in question was overturned based on a technicality, but the government has plans to re-introduce it. As this is a country that is 80% Christian and 40% Catholic, I think these abuses should be especially concerning to all of us, both for the nature of the acts themselves and for how they might reflect on our faith. It also seems like a place where the Catholic and Anglican churches could actually do some good by weighing in, because they might actually hold enough sway there to change policy.