UGANDA: 2 ARRESTED & FORCIBLY EXAMINED FOR GAY SEX

Two men have been arrested for allegedly having gay sex in the Ugandan town of Oyam.

According to an NTV Uganda report, 22-year-old Maurice Okello and 18-year-old Anthony Oluku were “caught red handed.”

Footage shows police escorting the two men out of their cells followed by the accused despondently sitting outside.

A police spokesperson told the television channel that Okello has a wife and a child.

He also claimed that “the doctor proved beyond doubt they have been practising [gay sex] for long, because they had scars.”

This suggests that the men were forced to undergo medial tests to assess if they had engaged in anal sex. These kinds of exams have been classified as a form of torture and as a gross invasion of an individual’s privacy by human rights groups.

The tests have also been rejected by medical experts as scientifically inconclusive.

According to NTV Uganda, police said that the men confessed to “acts of homosexuality.” If found guilty, they will be sentenced to life imprisonment.

While anal sex between men was already illegal in Uganda, with penalties including life imprisonment, the new Anti-Homosexuality Bill extends the ban to any kind of same-sex sex – including lesbianism – and also punishes repeat “offenders” and attempts by same-sex couples to marry with life imprisonment.

In addition, anyone who “aids, abets [or] counsels” a gay person and anyone who rents a home or room to a gay person could also be sentenced to seven years in jail. The bill further includes criminal penalties of five to seven years in prison for anyone who “promotes” homosexuality.