Archbishop of Canterbury condemns murder of Ugandan gay human rights activist

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, Africa, Archbishop of Canterbury, Uganda, Violence

29 comments on “Archbishop of Canterbury condemns murder of Ugandan gay human rights activist

  1. Brian from T19 says:

    An horrific attack. Glad to see the ABCs quick response. Hopefully all Primates will issue a condemnation.

  2. billqs says:

    Wow, it took a day to get a decisive statement from the ABC on this killing, while he seems unable to make an adequate statement on the fate of the Anglican Communion in the last 8 years.

    If it turns out that the activists death was a result of his gay activism then the statement is justified. However, certain facts seem to be downplayed. The prime suspect is an “acquaintance” of Mr. Kato, who was staying with him. This would make it unlikely that the murder was homophobia-related and possibly more likely that the motive of the killing was more of a domestic relations matter.

    Further, his killing was one of several recent iron bar murders in his neighborhood which all agree was “rough”. As far as I’ve read it doesn’t appear the other murder targets were gay activists.

    While violence and murder against anyone made just on the basis of their belonging to a certain group is deplorable and wrong, be they gay, black, Tutsi, Hutu, Coptic Christians, European Jews, etc., it would probably be smart to find out the actual circumstances before a “Tuscon-like” rush to judgment is made. Especially when this rush to judgment is used as a pretense to silence people’s rights to free speech.

  3. Sarah says:

    RE: “Hopefully all Primates will issue a condemnation.”

    Agreed — that roommate really looks as if he was a shady character.

    We all really need to have the Primates help to discern with whom we should room and to make certain we don’t end up murdered.

    In other news — ABC is a patsy again. Perhaps he will issue also a condemnation of talk radio and Sarah Palin as well, seeing as how they were responsible for the mass slaughter in Arizona.
    [blockquote]“Notwithstanding that the murderer was an absolute loon with leftist/anarchist political tendencies who never belonged to the tea party or listened to conservative talk radio…this murder ‘reminds us’ that conservatives should shut up.”[/blockquote]

  4. Ralinda says:

    Some of what the ABC is saying seems to be aimed at the case for asylum for a Ugandan lesbian. From the Guardian:

    Speaking from Yarl’s Wood detention centre, Namigadde, 29, who fled Uganda in 2003 after being threatened and her house destroyed over her relationship with her Canadian partner, said: “I’ll be tortured or killed if I’m sent back to Uganda. They’ve put people like me to death there. Most of my friends in Uganda have disappeared.”

    Her initial asylum claim was rejected in part on the basis that there was not sufficient evidence that she is a lesbian.

    Namigadde’s lawyer, Alex Oringa, from Cardinal Solicitors, who submitted a fresh asylum claim on Monday, said he was “very worried” for her safety. “The moment she arrives at Entebbe airport she will be arrested. They will detain her and you never know what happens in detention. They think she has humiliated the Ugandan government.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/26/brenda-namigadde-deportation-fear-uganda

  5. frdarin says:

    On principle, the ABC is right to condemn ANY murder. And for crying out loud, ALL murder is motivated by hate on some level.

    He’s grabbing for low-hanging fruit. This was an easy statement to make. Too bad he can’t make the hard ones.

    Darin+

  6. Brian from T19 says:

    Sarah

    I see why Kendall+ usually closes comments. The stories from the Ugandan press, like the tabloid with his picture calling for him to be hanged, probably had nothing to do with it. The level of corruption in Uganda is particularly low, so we are certain that the ex-convict living with him who is “nowhere to be seen” and stole his briefcase is in no way a cover up. And, of course, the Ugandan government has absolutely no need to downplay this as they have no anti-gay laws and are fierce advocates for human rights.

    You are better than this kind of spin. Maybe its all of the “lies” by the ACO, the ABC and liberals everywhere that have finally made you crack 😉

  7. Sarah says:

    RE: “we are certain that the ex-convict living with him . . . ”

    Good grief — he was an ex-convict????

    Er, Brian . . . [i]you’re[/i] the one engaged in the spin.

    Truth is . . . as with the Arizona killings in the first 48 hours afterwards . . . [i]you have no idea why the man was killed[/i].

    No. Idea.

    None.

    So what does Brian do when he Needs To Use A Dead Body? He announces that it’s no doubt “homophobia” and sees it as an opportunity to launch a discussion on the evils of talk radio and Sarah Palin, er no wait — the evils of homophobia and Uganda’s oppressive laws.

    Sorry, Brian — but we’ve seen this all before — two scant weeks ago.

    Let me be clear. Brian has no idea why this man was killed. Sarah has no idea why this man was killed.

    We simply don’t know.

    But I’m sure we will know. And at that point, perhaps the gay activists will have something to use. Or perhaps not.

  8. Terry Tee says:

    You know, behind this there lies a human tragedy and a particularly brutal murder. Being beaten to death with a hammer would be horrible. Let’s show some respect, folks. At the very least, prayer for repose of his soul, prayer for his family in their grief, and prayer that such killings should cease.

  9. Sarah says:

    I completely agree, Terry Tee. It is sad that others are willing to use this murder — prematurely — to advance their own particular obsessions.

    A man has been horribly murdered. I pray for this man’s family and friends in their grief. And I hope that his killer is brought to justice.

  10. dwstroudmd+ says:

    Perhaps his Grace overlooked this news item:
    http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/34539/

    Or his presenters didn’t think it of the right sort of murder to condemn, or some such.

  11. Brian from T19 says:

    Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori’s statement:

    At this morning’s Eucharist at the Primates Meeting, I offered prayers for the repose of the soul of David Kato. His murder deprives his people of a significant and effective voice, and we pray that the world may learn from his gentle and quiet witness, and begin to receive a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone. May he rest in peace, and may his work continue to bring justice and dignity for all God’s children.

  12. Dan Crawford says:

    No statement forthcoming from the Ugandan Church? Or is it the sense from the tone of the discussion on this string that none is needed?

  13. swac says:

    The BBC reports that the funeral was chaotic. The Priest condemned homosexuality from the pulpit. Some supporters of Kato then drove the priest from the Altar and a deposed priest finished the funeral but villagers refused to bury Kato so his supporters and family buried him. Way to go Anglican Ugandans

  14. Brian from T19 says:

    The article mentioned by swac

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-africa-12306077

  15. Teatime2 says:

    #13, 14. Lord, have mercy. Couldn’t he at least have been given a peaceful and dignified burial and his family and friends provided some comfort? It would have been better if that Anglican priest had refused to officiate the service. Cruelty like that does not present the face of Christ to the world.

    Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him.

  16. driver8 says:

    Lord have mercy on his soul. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. May his murderer repent and be brought to justice.

    Of course the wicked taking of innocent human life deserves condemnation. Every such act of wickedness deserves the church’s strongest condemnation. I pray that it may be so.

  17. Sarah says:

    RE: “Or is it the sense from the tone of the discussion on this string that none is needed?”

    Hi Dan Crawford — can you share why it is that “a statement” should be made about this specific murder?

    Also — what should the statement say?

    “We are very sorry to hear of a murder. May God grant the victim eternal rest and his murderer be brought to justice.”

    And if they are to say that . . . why this murder and not another?

  18. Sarah says:

    RE: “Some supporters of Kato then drove the priest from the Altar . . . ”

    Way to go, political activists!

    RE: “It would have been better if that Anglican priest had refused to officiate the service.”

    Teatime, I completely agree. Best for clergy not to get involved in political rallies, I think, in the guise of a funeral. What a horrible set of circumstances, to be used like that, even in death.

    Sick.

  19. Ross says:

    I dunno — you all seem to think you’re entitled to demand “statements” from every Muslim figure above the rank of librarian every time a Muslim commits a violent crime.

  20. Sarah says:

    RE: “you all . . . ”

    Fortunately that doesn’t include me.

  21. Mark Johnson says:

    Sarah, not the betting type here, but I’m going to wager that you’re not married.

  22. cseitz says:

    It will be good if, in time, we actually know the circumstances surrounding this man’s death. What if it turns out it had absolutely nothing to do with a ‘violence against LBGT’ agenda? Even the funeral scene–in the bits that are reported–is terribly confusing. A Lay Reader uses it as the occasion to speak against Gay practice; he is silenced by LGBT advocates (all wearing T-shirts), who ‘seize the microphone’; the Lay Reader is then taken to Kato’s family home; Kato is buried by friends, etc.

  23. Mark Johnson says:

    #21, if it is proven at some point to indicate that he was in fact killed for being gay, will you then be willing to acknowledge the harm that anti-LGBT words cause? Would you encourage the Ugandan Archbishop to perhaps tone down his rhetoric?

  24. Katherine says:

    #22, for myself, it would depend upon what the “anti-LGBT words” are. If you mean calls for murder, certainly such statements should be condemned. If you mean religious teaching that sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful, then no, those statements are not incitement to murder.

  25. cseitz says:

    #22 — Sad to say, my judgment is that if the event had nothing to do with anti-Gay violence, we will hear nothing more. No apologies. No remorse at having turned a tragic murder into a cause celebre. No charges that ACI (who are we to say anything?) and all agencies that didn’t rush to make a statement (about something whose details are unclear), which is what one reads on blogs, were false, callous in respect of Mr Kato, and gratuitous.

  26. cseitz says:

    “The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura said in a statement yesterday that assailants hit the deceased with a hammer on the head. Gen. Kayihura said the victim’s neighbours claim they saw someone in a jacket and shoes that belonged to the deceased moving out of the house in a hurry. “After sometime, the inquisitive residents entered the home of Kato. They found the door locked but on peeping through the key hole, they saw him lying down on the floor,” he said.

    Mr Ssekate said police were interrogating the deceased’s driver, Mr Arnold Ssenoga, and hunting for his houseboy who was still at large by press time.” Daily Monitor (Uganda)

  27. Mark Johnson says:

    #24 – I suspected you wouldn’t answer my question. Sorry to put you in such a difficult position. May I ask if the ACI is anything more than just a group of guys in Dallas (and one friend in Colorado and one in Toronto) with internet connections?

  28. cseitz says:

    #26 ‘If he was killed for being Gay’ — but this is precisely what you and others in liberal blogland are stating is a fact. The Police in Uganda indicate it was a robbery and the investigation proceeds apace. My question was very simple: you and others have asserted as fact that a man was murdered for being Gay. If it turns out this is not the case, will you apologise? I have made no claims to know the facts. When I know them, I and anyone else can consider a reaction. At present we have a tragic murder of a man who we are told is a practising homosexual and an activist. That is what we know.
    You may ask whatever you wish about ACI but it might be easier to have a look at our consultants, http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com (obviously this thread is not about ACI).

  29. Mark Johnson says:

    #21, there is video available online of the funeral. It is quite clear (even to someone who doesn’t speak the language) what all is going on at the funeral. Very unfortunate. Makes the heart sad. Well, at least mine.