Ugandan police detain 16 men over suspected homosexuality

Ugandan police have detained 16 men on suspicion of homosexuality and human trafficking, a rights group said Thursday, as activists fear an increase in targeted attacks against LGBT people.

The arrests took place in a neighborhood just outside the capital, Kampala, on Monday as the men were being hosted by another rights group, said Diane Bakuraira of Sexual Minorities Uganda, the country's most prominent LGBT rights group.

A police officer confirmed the arrests, saying the men were detained following a "complaint from the public."
That law, invalidated because it had been passed by lawmakers during a session that lacked a quorum, prescribed lengthy jail terms for those convicted of "attempted homosexuality" and "promotion of homosexuality."
"In 2018, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people, together with their partners, accounted for a majority of new HIV infections, underscoring the need for governments to work with, not against, these communities who are most vulnerable to HIV."