U.S. Restricts Police Aid to Uganda Over Effects of Anti-Gay Law
On July 28, 2014 Amnesty International USA published a blog by Colby Goodman, Senior Research Associate at the Security Assistance Monitor, regarding U.S. restrictions on police aid to Uganda as a result of their Anti-Homosexual Act signed into law on February 2014. Below is a summary of this blog.
Last month, the Obama Administration imposed restrictions on several types of U.S. security assistance to Uganda following President Museveni’s enactment of the Anti-Homosexual Act. In particular, the White House announced an end to the $2.4 million funds the United States had allocated towards a Ugandan community-policing program and a cancellation of military aviation exercises with Uganda.
Africa security forces arrests’ of individuals from the LGBT community is not unique to Uganda. There has been significant discrimination towards the LGBT community in countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Burundi and Liberia over the last couple of years. Amnesty International’s June 24 fact sheet lists Uganda, Mauritania, northern Nigeria, southern Somalia and Sudan as countries where homosexuality is punishable by death.
Amongst those countries that have criminalized homosexuality, the U.S. continues to provide security assistance. Take for instance Cameroon and Burundi where the U.S. provides security assistance estimated at $1.5 million and 18.9 million, respectively. Furthermore, this year the administration had allocated about $24.2 million in Liberia and $5.4 million in Nigeria for military and police aid.
With the upcoming U.S.-Africa summit, responses on this issue will be something to look out for during the summit and beyond.
Link to the full article: http://blog.amnestyusa.org/africa/u-s-restricts-police-aid-to-africa-over-effects-of-anti-lgbt-law/
Seth Binder and Grace Beya contributed to research and writing for the original blog post on Amnesty International USA’s Blog.