Uganda police arrest two women accused of kissing in violation of homosexuality law

Police in ​Uganda ​said on Tuesday they had arrested two young women they accuse of involvement in same-sex ‌acts after they were seen “openly kissing” in ⁠violation of the country’s stringent anti-homosexuality law. The East African country ‌enacted the Anti-Homosexuality Act in ‌2023, defying pressure from Western governments as well as local and international rights groups. The two women, ​a 22-year-old entertainer and a 21-year-old unemployed colleague, were arrested on February 18 in Arua city ⁠in the country’s northwest, police said in a statement.

Both women were “involved in ​queer and unusual acts believed to be sexual in nature, besides being allegedly seen ​openly kissing … in broad daylight,” ‌the statement added, saying the alleged offences began last year. Widely seen as one of ⁠the world’s harshest laws targeting the LGBT community, it carries a sentence of life in prison for same-sex intercourse ⁠and imposes the death penalty in cases deemed “aggravated”. The aggravated category ​includes repeat offences, gay sex that transmits terminal illness, or same-sex intercourse with a minor, an elderly person or a ‌person with disabilities. Earlier this month a Ugandan court dropped a case against the first ‌man in the country to be charged with ⁠aggravated homosexuality after finding ‌that the accused ​was of unsound mind due to prolonged detention on remand.