A Ugandan judge has ordered a newspaper to stop publishing the names and photographs of Ugandans it claims are gay and lesbian alongside calls to report them to police and even put them to death. Last month, the magazine, Rolling Stone, ran an article on what it called Uganda’s “top” 100 gays and lesbians, alongside a yellow banner that read “Hang Them.” A similar article appeared again on Sunday. Uganda’s Rolling Stone is not affiliated with the US magazine by the same name. Outside the courtroom, Pepe Julian Onziema of the group Sexual Minorities Uganda spoke out about the case.
Pepe Julian Onziema: “What the paper has done is incited violence against us, and we haven’t felt protected by the government here, so we are trying to call on the courts of law to emphasize and put in action the protection and promotion of human rights in this country, regardless of who you are, race, color, sexual orientation, identity.”
Ugandan human rights activists say at least four gays and lesbians have been attacked since the first list was published.