Facsimile of 'Rolling Stone' edition 2-9 October 2010

© afrol News (facsimile)

afrol News, 15 October - A Ugandan tabloid has published photos of 100 allegedly homosexual men, including their addresses and workplaces, calling for their hanging. The weekly was sold freely around the country.

The Ugandan 'Rolling Stone' tabloid last week published a front-page article entitled "100 Picture of Uganda's Top Homos Leak" calling for "the hanging of homos" in Uganda.

The article shows pictures of some of the 100 alleged homosexuals and other human rights activists, alongside their names and a description of their professional jobs and private life, including where they live or work. The article also calls on the government of Uganda to take strong action against them.

The edition of 'Rolling Stone' was distributed all over Uganda in the week 2 to 9 October and sold without any interruption of Ugandan police or media authorities.

Uganda has seen an increasing hatred against homosexuals during the last few years, fuelled by radical UD evangelists, conservative valued in Ugandan culture and President Yoweri Museveni himself. A bill calling for death penalty for homosexual action was close to be approved of by the Kampala parliament this year.

While the deteriorating climate has made most Ugandan gays and lesbians go undercover, international reactions against the bashing of homosexuals in Uganda are strong, being key to the pausing of the gay death penalty bill.

Also the "hang the homos" article by 'Rolling Stone' therefore mainly has attracted reactions from abroad. No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), a US and Italy-based organisation, today joined forces with the weakened group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), protesting the publication.

"The publication of the list of names in this context is bluntly incompatible with the principle of the rule of law," the groups said in a joint statement. "The principles relating to freedom of the press cannot be translated as meaning any lack of restraint in editorial choices," the statement added.

The article calling for the hanging of members of a sexual minority in Uganda and inciting violence against a particular group of citizens already stigmatised was "an attempt to intimidate not only sexual minorities but also the authorities in charge of upholding the principle of the rule of law," the activists said.

The groups called for an apology by 'Rolling Stone' and urged the national and international civil society organisations to "oppose this campaign" immediately, strongly and unequivocally.

The Ugandan government was urged to "intervene immediately and take all appropriate measures to put a stop to this blatant incitement to public violence against a particular group of citizens."

By staff writer

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