3 August 2022 — Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) Banned from Operating by Government, Uganda

Following the unlawful arrest of two of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)‘s staff members on 19 May 2022, SMUG was banned from operating as an organisation by Uganda’s National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organizations on 3 August 2022. The Bureau argued that its ban followed SMUG’s failure to register as an NGO, but, according to SMUG’s Co-Executive Director, Dr Frank Mugisha, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) had refused to approve SMUG’s name as it was “undesirable and un-registrable” as a group advocating for LGBTQIA+ people. The banning of SMUG only weeks after the unlawful arrest of its staff points to further government harrassment of LGBTQIA+ rights groups in Uganda, a country with severely restrictive laws such as the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Dr Frank Mugisha called this ban

“a clear witch hunt rooted in systematic homophobia, fuelled by anti-gay and anti-gender movements.”

Read more about SMUG.