Ugandan GLBT rights campaigners have been honoured by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who awarded them the State Department’s Human Rights Defenders Award at the US Embassy in Kampala. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton poses for a photo with recipients of the US State Department’s Human Rights Defender Award including Adrian Jjuuko, Geoffrey Ogwaro, Julius Kaggwa, Joanita Warry Nambirige, Clare Byarugaba, Frank Mugisha and Hassan Shire Sheikh in Kampala. [State Department photo] Frank Mugisha, Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, was personally named and thanked as he and fellow members of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law received the award. “I’ve said before it is critical for all Ugandans - the government and citizens alike - to speak out against discrimination, harassment and intimidation of anyone. That’s true no matter where they come from, what they believe or whom they love,” Clinton said. “No one has been a stronger champion than all of you. You’ve been organised, disciplined, and savvy. You have marshalled the evidence and made the arguments using the rights enshrined in Uganda’s constitution and in international law. And by doing so, you are a model for others and an inspiration to the world.” Clinton said she discussed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that and violence against gay Ugandans with President Yoweri Museveni at a meeting earlier on the day the award was handed over. She also visited an HIV/AIDS clinic. “I’m well aware that you do your work often amidst difficult, even dangerous circumstances. I know that some of your lives have been threatened, your friends and families intimidated. But I want you to know that the United States is and will be your partner,” Clinton said. “I raised these issues with President Museveni today, because this isn’t just about carving out special privileges for any one group; this is about making sure universal rights are protected for all people. A violation of anyone’s rights is a violation of everyone’s rights.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 9th August 2012 - 10:48am