Frank Mugisha, head of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), just reported that his colleague in SMUG, David Kato, has been murdered in Kampala. Kato was also one of the plaintiffs in the Rolling Stone defamation case in Uganda. The Rolling Stone promised to out 100 homosexuals, and had started doing so, when a Ugandan judge halted the tabloid, saying that such efforts violated the rights of the plaintiffs. You can find a link to the decision here.
Kato had expressed fear for his safety after the verdict, telling AlertNet:
David Kato, one of the plaintiffs, said that he had been living in terror ever since he was named by the newspaper.
“Since we got exposed by Rolling Stone, we have been living like fugitives in our own country,” he said. “We have to keep shifting houses for fear of being attacked. Some of the gays have decided to leave the city and head to rural areas in order to protect themselves.”
Details of this tragic death are unclear. I will provide more information as I get it.
UPDATE (8:01pm) – Human Rights Watch has more detail…
“David Kato’s death is a tragic loss to the human rights community,” said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan LGBT people bravely and will be sorely missed.”
Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato’s home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato’s lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.
UPDATE (1:10pm, 1/27/11). The Daily Monitor has a story here.
Police’s Scene of Crime officers have ringed off the house in which a gay activist, David Kato was murdered yesterday.
Police said his attackers hit him with a hammer on the head at around noon on Wednesday before locking him in the house.
Deputy Police Spokesman Vincent Ssekate said they are taking the case seriously but asked the public to who have any information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact them.
He later died as he was being transported to Mulago Hospital.
“They forced their way in and found Kato lying unconscious,” he said.
Their suspicion rose later, they told the police, and went to check on him in his house but found the door locked.
Residents told police that they saw a man who entered Kato’s house but he moved out dressed in victim’s shoes and a jacket that cover part of his face.
Asked whether they were taking it as an attack on minorities in the country, he said it is too early to reach that conclusion.
Kato was listed among the 100 people suspected to be homosexuals in the country by the local tabloid Rolling Stone.
“Since the act happened during day, there may be people who say the suspects entering the house. They should come and give us information,” he said.
Deputy Police Spokesman Vincent Ssekate said they are taking the case seriously but asked the public to who have any information that may lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact them.
The New York Times gives more details:
Friends said Mr. Kato had recently put an alarm system in his house and was killed by an acquaintance, someone who had been inside several times before and was seen by neighbors on Wednesday. Mr. Kato’s neighborhood on the outskirts of Kampala is known as a rough one, where several people have recently been beaten to death with iron bars.
Judith Nabakooba, a police spokeswoman, said Mr. Kato’s death did not appear to be a hate crime, though the investigation has just started. “It looks like theft, as some things were stolen,” Mrs. Nabakooba said.
But Nikki Mawanda, a friend, who was born female and lives as a man, said: “This is a clear signal. You don’t know who’s going to do it to you.”