Ugandan LGBT activists are pushing forward with a case against the African country’s government, accusing it of violating their right to freedom and assembly and association.
The Uganda Registration Services Bureau has refused to legally register Sexual Minorities Uganda, which is an umbrella organization of Uganda’s LGBT organizations.
According to reports, at an August 23 meeting with litigants and LGBT community members and allies in Kampala, Justine Balya, an officer with Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, told them, “The judge believes registering SMUG is immoral.”
She also noted that it was “highly uncommon” for a court to “award costs in public interest litigation,” she said.
LGBT activists Frank Mugisha, executive director of SMUG; Denis Wamala, formerly of the LGBTI support group Icebreakers Uganda; and Ssenfuka Warry of Freedom and Roam Uganda filed a lawsuit in 2016 against the bureau with Uganda’s High Court.
The court dismissed the activists’ application on June 27, 2018. The activists filed an appeal in September 2018, making five claims.
The activists believe the court erred in its judgment, misconstruing the Constitution of Uganda and law. They argue in the appeal that SMUG’s work isn’t unlawful and the ruling goes against Uganda’s constitution in a number of contradictory and unlawful ways, including awarding costs to the respondent.
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