by Rex Wockner
Ugandan police arrested two high-profile "male-to-female transgendergay" activists Sept. 10, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission reported Sept. 19.
Georgina Oundo and Brenda Kiiza were taken into custody at Oundo's home in the village of Nabweru near Kampala and held at the Nabweru PolicePost for a week.
They were beaten, kicked, denied food and urged to reveal names andaddresses of other gay activists, IGLHRC said. Police also copied the activists' cell-phone address books, according to Human Rights Watch.
Oundo and Kiiza were accused of spreading homosexuality, although no such crime exists, IGLHRC said. Gay sex is illegal under threat of up to life in prison.
Police said their investigation remains open and they will seek additional evidence to bring the activists before a court.
In the past five years, nearly a dozen people have been arrested on charges related to homosexuality in Uganda.
