Assailants have attacked a Ugandan group that works to protect the rights of the LGBTI community in a violent break-in, reports Human Rights Watch.

On the night of 8 February, the offices of Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF) were targeted by unidentified individuals. They disabled parts of the security system, and slashed two guards with machetes, severely injuring them.

HRAPF supports the equal rights of margalinised groups, including LGBTI people, and sex workers. On February 8, the day of the attack, HRAPF staff had held a training session for police officers in the Elgon region on the rights of LGBTI people.

The break-in continues a string of burglaries and attacks on the offices of independent nongovernmental groups in Uganda, including a previous attack on HRAPF in May 2016, in which a security guard was beaten to death and documents were stolen.

The Uganda police neither identified nor arrested suspects in that attack. According to DefendDefenders, a Kampala-based regional human rights organisation, over 30 organisations in Uganda have experienced similar break-ins since 2012. No one has ever been prosecuted for any of the attacks. Read more via Mamba Online