CAT/C/56/D/562/2013 2007.1 The Association had about 30 members and met every three days to provide support to the members and to carry out the Association’s objectives, including raising awareness among the Ugandan public about human rights and strengthening the organized efforts of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Uganda.2 2.3 The complainant states that in August 2007, while participating in a public gay rights demonstration near the Parliament building in Kampala, riot police arrested and handcuffed him, beating and repeatedly kicking him. He was then put in a truck and taken to a dark interrogation room. His hands were tied behind his back and the police began to torture him with a machine that applied extreme pressure to his body, causing asphyxiation and severe pain. The complainant was asked who had organized the demonstration and how it had been planned. The complainant was kept confined in a room for three days without food or water and was regularly beaten by the police. He was told that he was promoting bad morals in Ugandan society. On 24 August 2007, the complainant was put in the trunk of a car and abandoned in the middle of the night on the Kampala Northern Bypass.3 He was quite weak, could barely walk and could not see. With R.M.’s help, he sought medical treatment and was provided with a medical certificate.4 2.4 The complainant states that thereafter, he began to receive threats and threatening emails from strangers,5 and that he and his family were subjected to discrimination by their neighbours. He became very fearful and life became hard for him and his family in Uganda. While returning home one day, he was again arrested by men dressed in plain clothes, in a place called Mulago. The complainant submits that a spy6 within the Gay and Lesbian Association denounced him to the police and had him arrested. The police arrested him, interrogated him and charged him with the crime of recruiting children by raiding schools and promoting homosexuality. He was released, but the police officers told him that he would be continuously watched, and that he would be killed if he continued his activities with the Association. The complainant notes that he is a gay rights activist and is wanted by government security forces because they believe he is the leader in Uganda of a group called Rainbow. The complainant states that he is affiliated with Rainbow in Canada, but not in Uganda, and that he has he never been one of the group’s leaders.7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 The complainant provides a copy of his Gay and Lesbian Association membership card. He also provides a letter from R.M., dated 10 October 2012, stating that the complainant was a loyal member of the Association and fled Uganda out of fear for his life. The complainant states that during the meetings, members discussed problems they were encountering, such as discrimination, torture, HIV/AIDS in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, equality for gays, and the struggle to make the Government of Uganda recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and same-sex marriage. The complainant provides a copy of the release bond, dated 24 August 2007. The complainant provides a medical report from Asoka Medical Centre stating that he was treated for severe pain in the left arm and pain in his chest and abdominal after having been “attacked by antigay activists”. The complainant provides a copy of an e-mail from P.O., dated 8 February 2011, containing threats and criticisms of the “selfish culture of sodomy”, and copies of a public notice published in a newspaper and of a “wanted” notice with a photograph and the name of the author, indicating that he is one of the most wanted homosexual leaders in a group called Rainbow and is wanted by the Security Agency. No further details are provided on the allegation. The complainant provides a letter dated 13 February 2012 from the Rainbow Resource Centre, located in Winnipeg, Canada, stating that his membership card is enclosed. A copy of the card is also provided. The Rainbow Resource Center letterhead states that it serves Manitoba’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and two-spirit communities. 3