Kampala - Ugandan Police arrested a group of gay activists
demanding the right to HIV/AIDS treatment at an international AIDS
conference in Kampala on Wednesday.
Hundreds of activists disrupted the morning plenary session of the
conference, calling for rights, recognition and access to services
and funds extended to groups involved in the fight against the spread
of HIV/AIDS.
'We came to demonstrate because there is a need to include gay
Ugandans in HIV programmes,' the group's leader, Julian Onziema, 28,
told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa shortly before he was arrested.
The number of Ugandan homosexuals is not known, but membership of
gay groups is believed to be increasing as activists step up their
attempts to secure gay rights.
Uganda does not recognize gay rights and people found guilty of
homosexual acts can be sentenced to life imprisonment. However,
nobody has ever been convicted of the crime.
Homosexuality is frowned upon in many African nations.
Gambian President Yahya Gammeh recently threatened to 'cut off the
head' of any homosexual caught in the West African nation.
Two Spanish tourists were arrested on Tuesday for making
homosexual advances to Gambian taxi drivers, but are now believed to
have been released.
Homosexuality carries a sentence of up to 14 years in Gambia.
More than 1,700 delegates are attending the five-day conference
that began in Kampala Tuesday.
They are examining the challenges faced by governments, non-
governmental organizations and United Nations agencies in the fight
against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
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