CAT/C/56/D/562/2013
in August 2014, the Court based its decision on a procedural issue (the law was adopted
without the necessary quorum) and the Act can be brought before the Parliament again at
any time. The Committee further notes that, according to publicly available information,
after the adoption of the Act, there was an increase in the number of cases of arbitrary
arrest, police extortion, eviction and attacks on the reputation of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex persons and in the number who became homeless.26 Furthermore,
the Committee notes that there are reports indicating that some lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex persons have been beaten and groped by police and detainees
while in custody.27 The Committee therefore considers that the author may be at risk of
torture or ill-treatment if he is returned to Uganda, taking into account not only his sexual
orientation, but also his militancy in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex
organizations and the fact that he could be detained pursuant to the criminal charges
brought against him (see para. 2.8 above).28
10.6 Accordingly, the Committee finds that, taking into account all the factors in the
present case, substantial grounds exist for believing that the complainant will be in danger
of torture or ill-treatment if returned to Uganda.
11.
In the light of the above, the Committee, acting under article 22 (7) of the
Convention, concludes that the complainant’s removal to Uganda by the State party would
constitute a breach of article 3 of the Convention.
12.
The Committee is of the view that the State party has an obligation, in accordance
with article 3 of the Convention, to refrain from forcibly returning the complainant to
Uganda or to any other country where he runs a real risk of being expelled or returned to
Uganda. Pursuant to rule 118, paragraph 5, of its rules of procedure, the Committee invites
the State party to inform it, within 90 days from the date of the transmittal of the present
decision, of the steps it has taken to respond to the above observations.
26
27
28
12
Human Rights Watch, “Is it now legal to be gay in Uganda?”, 7 August 2014, available at
www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/07/it-now-legal-be-gay-uganda. Several documented cases of violence
and harassment against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community that may be
attributable to the Ugandan security forces have also been reported. See Human Rights First,
“Communities under siege: LGTBI Rights Abuses in Uganda”, available at
www.humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/Discrimination-against-LGBTI-Ugandans-FINAL.pdf.
See www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/10/uganda-discriminatory-legislation-fuels-repressionand-abuse/. Moreover, reportedly “some police officers would use mostly psychological torture, while
others would encourage inmates to physically abuse the LGBT person. Physical abuse is often
perpetrated by inmates, but also by police officers”. See Home Office of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland, “Country Information and Guidance. Uganda: Sexual Orientation
and Gender Identity”, August 2014, available at
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/346274/CIG_Uganda_SOGI_
2014_8_20_v2_0.pdf.
According to Chapter Four, a Ugandan lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex organization,
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in Uganda face abuse from the criminal
justice system itself, including the “practice of anal/rectum examination, a routine practice in the
investigation of cases against LGBTI persons, usually conducted in the presence of third parties and
in unscientific manner … ‘The method is unscientific and of no evidentiary value in criminal
prosecutions and amounts to torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading practice’”. See
http://chapterfouruganda.com/articles/2015/04/14/uganda-where-do-we-go-justice-abuse-rightssexual-minorities-uganda%E2%80%99s-criminal.