Uganda Police Make Sodomy Claim

Police in Uganda claim that Nsubuga Enock, the man who confessed to murdering gay rights activist David Kato, was forced into sodomy by his victim.

Enock was arrested Wednesday. Kato, an advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), was beaten to death with a hammer at his home in Mukono District last week. He had received death threats for his role in a landmark legal decision against Rolling Stone magazine, which published personal information about leading gay activists under the headline "Hang them."

According to the Daily Monitor, an anonymous police source said that Enock confessed to murdering Kato because he was "tired of engaging in homosexual practices."

"Kato is alleged to have bailed the suspect out of Kawuga Prison on January 24, where he been remanded on charges of theft of a mobile phone," the Monitor reported. "The suspect told police that he stayed with Kato for two days. He accused the deceased of having sex with him and promising to pay him during the period."

Homosexuality is punishable by up to 14 years in prison in Uganda, and a bill that would impose the death penalty on gay people is pending in parliament. Given the virulently homophobic environment, gay rights activists have urged the international community to exercise suspicion regarding official claims about the Kato murder.

"Assume that, until proven otherwise, David's death was motivated by homophobia and not routine or arbitrary violence," wrote SMUG in a news release last week.