Back again! Continuing the saga of human rights coverage for my Ethics and Human Rights course, and trying to remain objective.

Also, I apologize in advance for all the links.

So! Recent events in Uganda regarding gay rights:

A few weeks ago, a Ugandan man living in the United States named Joseph Bokombe was arrested by U.S. immigration officials because of an expired visa. Bokombe, a gay man, obviously feared returning home and elected to stay in the United States past the expiration date of his cultural exchange visa. If he is deported, it is likely he will share the same fate as David Kato (whose story I detailed in my other human rights post). In fact, he probably won't even make it past the airport - he will be immediately detained, and then eventually murdered.

Members of his community banded together and have been collecting petitions in order to secure his continued residence in the United States, and they will eventually submit them to a judge. If you would like to sign the petition, it can be found here.

Even more recent are the renewed cries to pass the 2009 Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill before the end of the Parliament session in May, which have been defended by the anti-gay Ugandan preacher Rev. Martin Ssempa. A strong New York Times article (which is well quoted here for people without an account) details how citizens have been coerced or bribed into supporting this movement. The delay already placed on the bill is mostly due to Western criticism and anger, which presents an opportunity, should the West decide to take it. Again, there is another petition available, and it takes only a second to fill out.

Perhaps the most shocking (to me anyway) recent act coming from the Ugandan elite is a letter, published by the Ugandan Ambassador to the President of the European Parliament, which states that David Kato should share responsibility for his brutal murder. You can read the letter here, but it is simultaneously infuriating and depressing. So, you know, only visit if you're already dead inside.