Govt to pay suspected lesbians sh13m
Jan 07, 2009
THE Government is to pay sh13m to two women for the degrading treatment they were subjected to by the Police over accusations of lesbianism.
By Hillary Nsambu.
THE Government is to pay sh13m to two women for the degrading treatment they were subjected to by the Police over accusations of lesbianism.
“The case is not about homosexuality. It is also not about abuse of office. It is about abuse of the suspects’ human rights by the Police,†Justice Stella Arach-Amoko said.
The judge awarded sh10m to Yvone Oyo, a Kenyan student at Makerere University, for humiliation, injury and trauma.
Juliet Mukasa, a human rights activist, was given sh3m for violation of her rights to property. They were also awarded costs of the application.
Arach-Amoko agreed with Ladislaus Rwakafuzi, the women’s lawyer, that the officer-in-charge of Kireka Police post inhumanly treated Oyo by ordering her to strip naked before the public and fondling her breasts to confirm her sex.
The judge dismissed allegations by the LC1 chief that he had found the two in a local bar kissing and that he arrested them to save them from a mob that wanted to lynch them.
Oyo testified that on the evening of July 20, 2005, the LC1 chief together with other people forcefully entered her house and violently arrested her.
The LC1 allegedly took Oyo to his home where he held her for several hours without allowing her access to the toilet.
Oyo said even after a fellow woman had pacified him, he instructed an armed LDU soldier to escort her to the toilet.
Due to his presence, she said she could not ease herself, which traumatised her.
Oyo said she was later handed over to the Police who did not allow her to contact her lawyers.
THE Government is to pay sh13m to two women for the degrading treatment they were subjected to by the Police over accusations of lesbianism.
“The case is not about homosexuality. It is also not about abuse of office. It is about abuse of the suspects’ human rights by the Police,†Justice Stella Arach-Amoko said.
The judge awarded sh10m to Yvone Oyo, a Kenyan student at Makerere University, for humiliation, injury and trauma.
Juliet Mukasa, a human rights activist, was given sh3m for violation of her rights to property. They were also awarded costs of the application.
Arach-Amoko agreed with Ladislaus Rwakafuzi, the women’s lawyer, that the officer-in-charge of Kireka Police post inhumanly treated Oyo by ordering her to strip naked before the public and fondling her breasts to confirm her sex.
The judge dismissed allegations by the LC1 chief that he had found the two in a local bar kissing and that he arrested them to save them from a mob that wanted to lynch them.
Oyo testified that on the evening of July 20, 2005, the LC1 chief together with other people forcefully entered her house and violently arrested her.
The LC1 allegedly took Oyo to his home where he held her for several hours without allowing her access to the toilet.
Oyo said even after a fellow woman had pacified him, he instructed an armed LDU soldier to escort her to the toilet.
Due to his presence, she said she could not ease herself, which traumatised her.
Oyo said she was later handed over to the Police who did not allow her to contact her lawyers.