Thu 3 Feb 2011 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
David Kato A man has been arrested over the murder of Ugandan gay rights campaigner David Kato, a killing Ugandan police claim isn't related to the victim's sexuality. Kato, 46, worked for the Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug) group, which says he started receiving death threats after his name, photograph and address were published by a newspaper last year. His colleagues say he was beaten to death with a hammer at his home, just weeks after successfully suing the publication. Police say Enock Nsubuga, the second person arrested in connection with the killing, is their main suspect. They deny that Kato was killed because of his sexuality and say initial inquiries point to robbery. The BBC's reporter in Kampala says Nsubuga was arrested in Mukono, a town east of the capital where Kato had lived. He says there has been a recent spate of "iron-bar killings" in Mukono in which people have been assaulted with pieces of metal. A police source, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the press, is reported in the Daily Monitor as saying the Nsubuga confessed to killing Kato because he 'coerced him into sodomy'. "He told us that he killed Kato after he failed to give him a car, a house and money he promised as rewards for having sex with him," the source claimed. Gay rights activists have told Reuters they fear police may try to cover up a motive of homophobia to protect the Western aid upon which the country relies. They say they wanted proof from police that Kato was not killed over his sexuality. The killing has been condemned by the international community. UN refugee agency head Antonio Guterres said people facing persecution for their sexual orientation in Uganda should be given refugee status in other countries. A year after it was proposed, the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is yet to be formally debated by the Ugandan parliament. The bill proposes the death penalty for gay people who are "repeat offenders".
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 3rd February 2011 - 4:51pm