Adrian Jjuuko: Standard-Bearer for LGBTQIA+ Rights in Uganda
Dr. Adrian Jjuuko is a 2018 Alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Leadership in Civic Engagement Institute at the Presidential Precinct. He holds an LLD from the University of Pretoria, an LLM in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa, an LLB from Makerere University, and a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, Kampala.
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On 18th of May 2020, Dr. Adrian Jjuuko and his legal team at the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) and Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) won the release of 19 LGBTQIA+ people from jail. The detained persons were jailed for 49 days due to a misuse of COVID-19 protocols and were held without proper access to legal representation. Officials in the Ugandan government utilized the quarantine and strict lockdown in order to criminalize a group of people that were housing in a shelter for LGBTQIA+ Youth. Upon his release, one of the detainees thanked the lawyers and cried, “I didn’t think anyone was going to do this for me.” As attested to by Adrian’s team, many LGBTQIA+ persons are abandoned by their families when the individual is jailed due to the resulting public knowledge of their sexual orientation and the associated societal stigma. The rightful release of these individuals is one of the many tangible successes that exist in Adrian’s career as a Human Rights Activist.
We were pleased to learn that the group of LGBT persons detained in Uganda as result of the misuse of COVID-19 protocol as have been released. Executive Director of the HRAPF had the following to say. @ILGAWORLD @TRF_Stories @76Crimes pic.twitter.com/XACIzoyoKm
— Pan Africa ILGA (@PanAfricaILGA) May 18, 2020
Adrian found himself drawn to activism in high school, after hearing Sylvia Tamale speak on her work as Coordinator of the Gender, Law & Sexuality Research Project at the Makerere University School of Law. She inspired his activism, academic path, and dissertation on the struggles of LGBTQIA+ rights. Adrian graduated from Makerere University with a degree in Law in 2008 and was chosen to coordinate the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law. The Coalition was established for the protection of LGBTQIA+ people and in response to the criminalization of the community via the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Ugandan Parliament. As a new lawyer, Adrian was set on an international stage to nullify the campaign and law that impacted every LGBTQIA+ person in Uganda. “If you don’t have successes [like this] then this work might not be worth it, the community hates you. No one understands you or stands with you,” Adrian reminded us starkly. His work has earned him the U.S. Department of State’s Human Rights Defender Award in 2011 and the Vera Chirwa Award from the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria in 2016. He was runner-up for the European Union’s Human Rights Defenders Award in 2017.
In his first year after graduation, Adrian founded the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), an organization that operates as the only specialized legal aid clinic for LGBTQIA+ persons in Uganda. The Forum advocates for legal change in favor of marginalized groups in the courts as well as through education and training programs. Since its founding, HRAPF has trained over 500 police officers, created a paralegal training for LGBTQIA+ individuals with encouragement towards a law degree, and enabled members to start organizations that benefit the community.
As the only legal aid clinic for LGBTQIA+ people in Uganda, Adrian and the staff of the HRAPF are always traveling around the country. When asked about slowing down during the global COVID-19 pandemic, Adrian said, “During times of crisis activists cannot rest, that is when human rights are most likely to be violated. Don’t stay home when you can save a soul; when you can help and save someone’s rights from being violated.” The Ugandan government placed a ban on cars during the lockdown, and in response, the HRAPF staff learned to bike or motorcycle to the courts and jails so as to gain visitation of their clients. Adrian and his team practice and preach their commitment to defend the marginalized without exception.
This month, alongside valiant alumni like Adrian, we celebrate international LGBTQIA+ Pride month. Pride takes on the form of marches, protests, celebrations, and much more. In the past decade, Ugandan Pride marches and events have been raided by the police and smothered due to threats of violence. In situations of consistent oppression and violence, Adrian reminds us that it is challenging to work through the exhaustion of activism fatigue. In his battle with unjust laws and harmful societal norms, Adrian takes to heart the advice of a University of Virginia professor that he met here at the Precinct: “Leadership is the art of getting things done.” For Adrian, there is never time to fully rest or feel finished with activism, but moments like last month’s court victory bring a promise of hope for tomorrow.
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The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is a program of the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and administered by IREX. The Presidential Precinct is a sub-grantee of IREX and is implementing a U.S.-based Leadership Institute as a part of the Fellowship. For more information about the Mandela Washington Fellowship, please visit the Fellowship’s website at www.mandelawashingtonfellowship.org.
Want to learn about more inspiring, African leaders working towards LGBTQIA+ inclusion on the continent? Check out the UN’s Voices for Equality series: https://www.unfe.org/voicesforequality/
