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Congolese rebel group displaces transgender people

Refugee camp residents consider trans women sorcerers

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Displaced transgender people in Congo's North Kivu province. (Photo courtesy of Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko)

M23 rebels in Congo’s North Kivu province have displaced a number of transgender people and left them even more vulnerable to persecution.

M23 rebels last November approached Goma, the province’s capital city, and forced around 180,000 people to leave their homes. Jérémie Safari, coordinator of Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko, a Congolese LGBTQ and intersex rights group, told the Washington Blade that residents of the Kibumba camp where displaced people have settled have refused to assist trans people and have accused them of being sorcerers.

“Trans people went (through) war like everyone else,” said Safari. “In the Kibumba camp where the displaced have settled, the local community there has refused trans people access, accusing them of being sorcerers, bad luck charms and of being the origin of the war following their evil practice.” 

Safari said other displaced people who did not want trans women in the camp have attacked them. Safari said these trans women currently sleep in the street in Kibumba without food.

Safari, in addition, said the government has done little to help these displaced trans people, even though consensual same-sex sexual relations are not criminalized in the country.

“The displaced people received help but not the trans people since they do not live in the camp and also the government is still extremely hostile towards LGBTIQA+ organizations in the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). No LGBTQA+ organization can be legally recognized by the Congolese State,” said Safari.

Safari said Rainbow Sunrise Mapambazuko currently needs funds to provide housing, food and medicine to the displaced trans people.

“If we could have $7,000 (U.S. dollars) firstly for their survival, since we are afraid of their life and their health which is in danger, that would be of immense help,” said Safari.

The M23 since last May has demonstrated increased firepower and defensive capabilities that have enabled the group to overrun U.N.-backed Congolese troops and hold territory. 

The U.N. says the fighting between Congolese troops and M23 rebels has forced nearly 200,000 people to flee their homes. 

Human Rights Watch has called upon the U.N., the African Union and governments to publicly denounce M23 abuses found to have been committed by other combatants, maintaining sanctions against senior M23 commanders and expanding them to those newly found responsible for serious abuses and senior officials from across the region complicit in them. Human Rights Watch also said any political settlement should not include amnesty for those responsible for human rights abuses and prevent responsible M23 commanders to integrate into the Congolese armed forces. 

“The government’s failure to hold M23 commanders accountable for war crimes committed years ago is enabling them and their new recruits to commit abuses today. Civilians in eastern Congo should not have to endure new atrocities by the M23,” said Thomas Fessy, a senior DRC researcher at Human Rights Watch.

M23 sprung from elements within the Congolese army in 2012. 

The rebel group claims it is defending the rights of Congolese Tutsi and originally comprised of soldiers who participated in a mutiny from the Congolese army in April-May 2012. They claimed their mutiny was to protest the Congolese government’s failure to fully implement the March 23, 2009, peace agreement — M23 derives from this date — that had integrated them into the Congolese army.

The Congolese army and the U.N. Force Intervention Brigade defeated M23 in November 2013, and its members fled to Rwanda and Uganda. The group re-emerged in November 2021.

Daniel Itai is the Washington Blade’s Africa Correspondent.

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Africa

Burundi’s president reiterates LGBTQ people should be stoned in a stadium

Évariste Ndayishimiye first made comment last December

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Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye (Screen capture via Gentil Gedeon Official YouTube)

Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye on March 8 reiterated his call for LGBTQ people to be stoned in a stadium.

Ndayishimiye made the remark during the commemoration of the International Women’s Day in Gitega, the country’s political capital. He first called for the public stoning of LGBTQ people last December during a public event.

LGBTQ activists sharply criticized the comments and some international diplomats even threatened to cut economic ties with Burundi. Ndayishimiye, however, seems unmoved by this pushback and maintained that if it meant if his nation would cut economic ties with the developed countries on the basis of his anti-LGBTQ stance then so be it, reaffirming that nothing will change his stance.  

Jésus Dior Kant, a gay man and LGBTQ activist from Burundi, said the president’s remarks are tantamount to publicly calling for the lynching of gay people.

“This violent and anti-LGBT+ rhetoric endangers the lives of many individuals in Burundi and stains the nation’s commitment to human rights,” said Kant. “Such discourse not only incites homophobia and violence but also violates international human rights laws and norms that protect individuals regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Kant also said what Ndayishimiye said now poses a real and immediate threat for LGBTQ people in the country.

“The impact of this statement is not merely rhetorical, it poses a real and immediate threat to the safety and well-being of the LGBT+ community in Burundi,” said Kant. “It encourages hate crimes, promotes discrimination and undermines progress made towards equality and justice. This is not just a problem for the LGBT+ community but a stain on the moral fabric of our global society, reflecting on us all.”

Kant called for Ndayishimiye to immediately withdraw his remarks and commit to protecting the rights of LGBTQ people in the country.

“Your call to stone gay individuals constitutes a blatant violation of human rights and an incitement to violence and discrimination,” said Kant. “We implore you to take the necessary measures to withdraw your statement advocating violence against the LGBT+ community, commit to protecting LGBT+ individuals in Burundi by enforcing laws that guarantee rights and well-being and respecting international human rights conventions, ensuring that Burundi is a nation that respects and values every human life.” 

Clémentine de Montjoye, a researcher at Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division, said the anti-LGBTQ crackdown in Burundi could become worse, including continued political repression and restrictions on freedom of expression to maintain the governing party’s control. 

“This type of fearmongering is not new in Burundi, where sexual relations between people of the same sex have been illegal since former President Pierre Nkurunziza signed a new criminal code into law in 2009,” noted de Montjove. “The law was a fierce blow to Burundi’s LGBT people, who had begun to come out and organize, albeit in small numbers, to demand their rights be respected.”

De Montjove further noted the National Assembly’s human rights commission added the anti-homosexuality provision in the 2009 criminal code at the last minute, apparently under pressure from Nkurunziza, who made statements on television that described homosexuality as a curse.

“Ndayishimiye, who presents himself as a progressive, rights-respecting leader, should be working to reverse this trend rather than stoking more fear and hatred,” said de Montjoye.

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Ugandan appeals court upholds ruling that blocked LGBTQ group from registering

Decision ‘doesn’t faze us’

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(Image by rarrarorro/Bigstock)

A Ugandan appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that prevented an LGBTQ rights group from legally registering in the country.

The Uganda Registration Services Bureau in 2012 refused to legally recognize Sexual Minorities Uganda. The Uganda High Court upheld the decision in 2018, and SMUG appealed it to the country’s Registrar Court of Appeal.

“The LGBTQ community views this ruling as a missed opportunity to address the suppression of their freedom of association, instead focusing on perceived societal norms,” said SMUG in a press release. “It underscores a recurring trend in Ugandan courts, wherein rights of LGBTQ persons are marginalized, further widening the gap between legal protections and lived realities and experiences.”

Katie Hultquist of Outright International in a post to her X account expressed her personal support for SMUG Executive Director Frank Mugisha, his organization and other activists in the country. Mugisha said SMUG is “fully committed to elevating this challenge to the next level.” 

“After thorough debriefing, we will communicate our next strategic steps,” said Mugisha. “This ruling doesn’t faze us.”

The appeals court issued its ruling less than a year after President Yoweri Museveni signed the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”

The Constitutional Court in December heard arguments in a lawsuit that challenges the law. It is not clear when a ruling will be issued.

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Prominent Angolan activist found dead in his home

Authorities say Carlos Fernandes showed signs he was strangled

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Carlos Fernandes (Photo courtesy of USAID Administrator Samantha Power's X account)

Authorities in Angola on Feb. 26 found a prominent activist dead in his home.

Associação Íris Angola in a Facebook post wrote Carlos Fernandes, the group’s executive director, “was found lifeless in his residence” in Luanda, the country’s capital. Angolan media reports indicate authorities continue to investigate his death, but they suspect he was strangled.

His funeral took place on March 1. Activists throughout the country have organized candlelight vigils and other events to honor Fernandes.

“His departure leaves a huge void in our community and a deep mourning in our hearts,” said Associação Íris Angola.

Angolan lawmakers in 2020 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations and banned violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation in the former Portuguese colony. Fernandes was among the activists who championed these advances.

The State Department’s 2022 human rights report notes violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in Angola. Angolan media reports indicate Fernandes is the second LGBTQ person found dead with signs of strangulation in recent weeks.  

“Carlos Fernandes led the first LGBTQI+ group in Angola, and tirelessly advocated for human rights and ending the threat of HIV/AIDS,” said U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power in a March 6 post to her X account.

U.S. Ambassador to Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe Tulinabo Mushingi in a statement noted his embassy “was proud to partner with Mr. Fernandes over the past decade.”

“We are grateful for his important contributions to our programs supporting human rights, fighting against stigma and discrimination, expanding access to health and education resources for LGBTQI+ communities, combatting human trafficking and more,” said Mushingi. “In particular, his contributions to our PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) program expanded protection and treatment for HIV/AIDS to previously unreached communities.”

PEPFAR echoed these sentiments, noting Fernandes’ “contributions expanded protection and treatment for HIV/AIDS to previously unreached communities.”

“Carlos Fernandes is remembered as a resolute, strong, welcoming person,” said Mushingi. “As a true pioneer in the fight against discrimination, he created a family among the LGBTQI+ community in Angola, and his legacy as an activist will be carried on by generations of LGBTQI+ Angolans.”  

“We trust that the Angolan authorities will conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that any parties responsible are held accountable,” he added.

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