July 9, 2014 – Trending on Buzzfeed World – Five people have been arrested in Uganda on suspicion of “promoting the act of homosexuality,” according to the Daily Monitor. The arrests come just as the government has begun to make gestures apparently designed to mollify international donors concerned about human rights violations committed under the recently passed Anti-Homosexuality Act.
The Monitor reported that those arrested in the northern district of Pader include two businessmen, a teacher, and two students who are alleged to “have been carrying out clandestine movements in both primary and secondary schools in the district luring the pupils and students into the practice.”
LGBT activists reached in Kampala had not yet had time to investigate the incident. But Clare Byarugaba, co-coordinator of the civil society coalition organized to oppose the anti-LGBT law, said the she was troubled because Kale Kayihura, Uganda’s inspector general of police, had given “assurances that he could keep the police in check” and LGBT people wouldn’t be arrested as long as they “keep our activism out of the public eye.” The inspector general could not immediately be reached for comment.
