David Kato

David Kato Kisule (c. 1964 – January 26, 2011)[2] was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of 's gay rights movement.[3] He served as advocacy officer for (SMUG). Kato was murdered in 2011, shortly after winning a lawsuit against a magazine which had published his name and photograph identifying him as gay and calling for him to be executed.

Earlier life [...] He became highly involved with the underground LGBT rights movement in Uganda, eventually becoming one of the founding members of SMUG on March 3, 2004. According to a series of confidential cables written by a -based United States diplomat and later released by WikiLeaks, Kato spoke during a November 2009 United Nations-funded consultative conference on human rights. During the conference, Kato spoke on the issue of LGBT rights and the anti-LGBT atmosphere in the country, but members of the Uganda Human Rights Commission "openly joked and snickered" during the speech, and a rumor circulated that David Bahati MP, the leading proponent of the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill, had ordered the Inspector General of Police to arrest Kato, causing Kato and other attending members of SMUG to leave the conference immediately after he finished the speech. Bahati then made a "tirade against homosexuality" to the conference, resulting in massive applause and Martin Ssempa, an Evangelical Christian cleric, pounding his fist on the table in agreement.[6] By 2010, he had quit his job as a school teacher in order to focus on his work with SMUG in light of the events surrounding the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill.[2] Kato was subsequently given a one year fellowship at the Centre for Applied Human Rights based at the University of York in the United Kingdom, a centre which provides fellowships to vulnerable and threatened Human Rights activists as a reprieve from the dangers they face in their own Countries.[7]

Rolling Stone case

Kato was among the 100 people whose names and photographs were published in October 2010 by the Ugandan tabloid newspaper in an article which called for their execution as homosexuals. Kato and two other SMUG members who were also listed in the article — and Julian Patience "Pepe" Onziema — sued the newspaper to force it to stop publishing the names and pictures of people it believed to be gay or lesbian [...]

Murder

On January 26, 2011, at around 2 p.m. EAT (11:00 UTC), while talking on the phone with SMUG member Julian Pepe Onziema, Kato was assaulted in his home in Bukusa, ,[13] by at least one unknown male assailant who hit him twice in the head with a hammer before fleeing on foot; Kato later died en route to the Kawolo Hospital. Kato's colleagues note that Kato had spoken of an increase in threats and harassment since the court victory, and they believe that his sexual orientation and his activism were the motive for the murder.[13] Joe Oloka-Onyango, who worked with Kato on the court case, said, "This is a very strange thing to happen in the middle of the day, and suggests pre- meditation."[13] According to reports in the New York Times[3] and the Sydney Morning Herald,[8] questions are being raised about the murder's being linked to Kato's sexuality. and have both called for an in-depth and impartial investigation into the case, and for protection for gay activists.[8] James Nsaba Buturo, the Ugandan Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, is on record as having declared that "Homosexuals can forget about human rights".[3]

[...] Funeral

Kato's funeral was held on January 28, 2011, in Nakawala. Present at the funeral were family, friends and co-activists, many of whom wore t-shirts bearing his photo in front, the Portuguese "la [sic] luta continua" in the back and having rainbow flag colors inscribed onto the sleeves.[17] However, the Christian preacher at the funeral preached against the gays and lesbians present, [...] In place of the preacher who left the scene after the fighting, excommunicated Anglican bishop officiated Kato's burial in the presence of friends and cameras.

Reactions

The murder was decried by Human Rights Watch,[19] with senior Africa researcher Maria Burnett adding that "David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community." Amnesty International stated that it was "appalled by the shocking murder of David Kato," and called for a "credible and impartial investigation into his murder."[20] Both also asked the Ugandan government to protect other gay rights activists.[13] U.S. President ,[21] U.S. Secretary of State and the State Department,[22][23] and the [24] also condemned the murder and urged Uganda authorities to investigate the crime and to speak out against homophobia and transphobia. "I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder," Obama said. "David showed tremendous courage in speaking out against hate. He was a powerful advocate for fairness and freedom."[25] [...] The Gay Pride March () held on 30 July 2011 commemorated Kato. A minute of silence was observed and hundreds of rainbow coloured balloons were released in his memory by Member of Parliament for York Central Hugh Bayley and the Lord Mayor of York.[30] The David Kato Vision & Voice Award was established in his memory. The 2012 recipient, Jamaican LGBT rights activist Maurice Tomlinson, was announced on 14 December 2011 and will be awarded on 29 January 2012 in London.

For full details in this entry, read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Kato

Picture at: http://www.polis.cam.ac.uk/cghr/events_2010_catouganda.html .