Shutdown of SMUG in Uganda – status of LGBTI+ rights
23.8.2022
Priority question for written answer P-002832/2022
to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Rule 138
Karen Melchior (Renew), Irène Tolleret (Renew), Pierre Karleskind (Renew), Nicolae Ştefănuță (Renew), Katalin Cseh (Renew), Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew), Olivier Chastel (Renew), Ramona Strugariu (Renew), María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos (Renew), Catharina Rinzema (Renew), Moritz Körner (Renew), Sophia in 't Veld (Renew)
On Friday 5 August 2022, the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) of Uganda announced the shutdown of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) – the country’s leading LGBTI+ rights organisation. SMUG works to ensure that all Ugandans can enjoy the basic rights of living their lives with dignity and to be respected for who they are. The European External Action Service (EEAS) has a special LGBTI+ tool kit to use in such cases, and the European Parliament has raised the issue of the situation of the LGBTI+ community in Uganda numerous times, most recently in its resolution of 24 October 2019[1]. In the light of this:
- 1.How will the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy continue to promote universal human rights in Uganda, including ensuring that everyone, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation, enjoys these rights without discrimination?
- 2.When will the EEAS raise the matter with the Ugandan authorities, and support the LGBTI+ community in Uganda?
- [1] OJ C 202, 28.5.2021, p. 54.