HOMOSEXUALS’ RIGHTS: US Slaps Sanctions against Uganda’s Chief Jailer Johnson Byabashaija, 20 Others

JOHNSON BYABASHAIJA’S SINS

The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced sanctions against Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) Commissioner General Johnson Byabashaija over allegations that he was linked to human rights abuses and violations, including rights for homosexuals.

Byabashaija is among 20 individuals, drawn from at least nine countries, who the US sanctioned for the same reasons.

Besides these 20, two more people were sanctioned under the Department of State’s counterterrorism authority while the Department of State also announced visa restrictions for several individuals in Russia, Indonesia, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over human rights abuses.

According to the US Treasury Department, “Byabashaija is being designated for being a foreign person who is or has been a leader or official of an entity, including any government entity, that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, serious human rights abuse relating to the leader’s or official’s tenure pursuant to E.O. 13818.”

OTHER AFRICANS SANCTIONED

Central African Republic’s Jean-Francis Bozize, son of former CAR President Francois Bozize, for moving weapons and ammunition from neighboring countries into CAR for the Coalition for the Patriots of Change (CPC), a rebel group that has recruited child soldiers and perpetrated sexual violence, as well as Mahamat Salleh, a CAR national and CPC commander and a former zone commander for the CPC-affiliated group, the Popular Front for the Rebirth of CAR, for raping girls and forcing them into sexual slavery.

DR Congo’s William Yakutumba, the founder, military commander, and political leader of the Mai-Mai Yakutumba militia and the National Coalition of the People for the Sovereignty of Congo (CNPSC), for attacking civilians and humanitarian actors; Willy Ngoma is the military spokesperson for the March 23 Movement (M23), an armed group that has perpetrated human rights abuses, including killings, attacks, and sexual violence against civilians; and Michel Rukunda, the commander and overall military leader of the armed group Twirwaneho, for recruiting child soldiers.

Liberia’s Jefferson Koijee, the mayor of Monrovia, Liberia and a senior leader in the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) political party, for stoking violence.

South Sudan’s Gordon Koang Biel, Gatluak Nyang Hoth, and Joseph Mantiel Wajang, the Koch County Commissioner, the Mayendit County Commissioner, and the Unity State Governor, respectively, for systematic rape, often accompanied by other human rights violations, perpetrated against women and girls during armed attacks in Leer County of Unity State between February and April 2022.

JOHNSON BYABASHAIJA’S CHARGES

Commissioner General of UPS since 2005, Byabashaija’s ‘sins’ revolve around superintending over an institution accused of torturing inmates it is supposed to rehabilitate.

“During that period, members of the UPS have engaged in torture and other serious human rights abuse against prisoners held within UPS facilities,” said US Department of State in its statement announcing the list of the perpetrators of human rights abuse it has designated in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“Prisoners have reported being tortured and beaten by UPS staff and by fellow prisoners at the direction of UPS staff.”

Byabashaija also got in trouble over the torture of homosexuals and intrusive anal examination of LGBTQI+ persons in detention.

“Members of vulnerable groups, including government critics and members of Uganda’s LGBTQI+ community, have been beaten and held without access to legal counsel; for example, in a 2020 case, the UPS denied a group of LGBTQI+ persons access to their lawyers and members of the group reportedly endured physical abuse, including a forced an*l examination and scalding,” treasury further noted.

In 2021, homosexual rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo claimed that a*uses of homosexuals arrested in a Nansana gay wedding were forcefully examined. (See Details Here and There).

The sanctions came days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced visa restrictions for Ugandan MPs and other officials responsible for undermining democracy and for human rights violations, including LGBTQI+ persons.

Uganda has in recent months faced sanctions over an anti-gay, with the US government and the World Bank piling pressure on Museveni’s administration to cancel the Anti-Homosexuality Act or lose billions in funding for projects and trade deals. (See Details Here and There).

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