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Global Repudiation: Uganda Enacted Law Punishing Same-Sex Relations Up to the Death Penalty

2023-05-29T20:41:25.348Z

Highlights: President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled since 1986, did so in a brief statement on his Twitter account. The law allows the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" for sexual relations involving HIV-infected persons and minors. Homosexuality is criminalized in the East African country as a "crime against the order of nature", since the laws that governed during colonization. Since independence in 1962 there has never been a conviction for consensual sexual acts between people of the same gender.


President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled since 1986, did so in a brief statement on his Twitter account.


The president of Uganda has enacted a controversial law against the LGBTIQ + community, which penalizes same-sex relations with death, which sparked criticism from humanitarian organizations, Western governments and was described as one of the most repressive in the world.

"The president approved the 2023 anti-homosexuality bill," President Yoweri Museveni's office said in a brief statement on his Twitter account.

The law, lambasted by the UN and countries such as the United States, was approved on March 21 in Parliament and defended by lawmakers on the pretext that these measures protect the national culture and its values.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called the text "discriminatory" and expressed "dismay" at the enactment of this "draconian" legislation.

The government considers homosexuals as "perverts." AP Photo

Reviews


Türk also said that the law is contrary "to the Constitution and international treaties" and opens avenues for "systematic violations of the rights of LGBTIQ+ people."

At the end of April, President Museveni asked parliamentarians to re-examine the text, urging them to specify that it is not a crime to "be homosexual", but that same-sex relationships are criminalized, that is, sexual orientation will not be a crime, but "acts" are criminalized, which can be punished with life imprisonment.

The new law allows the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" for sexual relations involving HIV-infected persons and minors; and punishes with up to 14 years in prison for the charge of "attempted aggravated homosexuality".

Homosexuality is criminalized in the East African country as a "crime against the order of nature", since the laws that governed during colonization, but since independence in 1962 there has never been a conviction for consensual sexual acts between people of the same gender.

The legislation has broad public support in Uganda, a largely Christian country, where people are very religious and the LGBTIQ+ community suffers a lot of discrimination.

Uganda is a mostly Christian country, where people are very religious and the LGBTIQ+ community suffers a lot of discrimination. AP Photo

The debate on the law in Parliament was marked by the use of homophobic insults and the president himself referred to people who are attracted to others of the same gender as "perverts".

"As Uganda's Parliament, we take into account the concerns of our people and legislate to protect the sanctity of the family. We stood firm to defend the culture, values and aspirations of our people," said Parliament Speaker Anita Among.

Heavy-handed


Organizations accused of encouraging same-sex relations can be banned for ten years, according to the rule.

Civil society reactions were muted in a country where Museveni has ruled with an iron fist since 1986.

Internationally, the bill sparked outrage.

U.S. President Joe Biden said today that the law constitutes a "tragic violation" of human rights and must be repealed.

A White House statement said Biden asked the National Security Council to review "U.S. commitments to Uganda in all its aspects," including AIDS assistance and other aid and investment.

Washington will study the possibility ofimposing sanctions on Uganda and restricting the entry into the United States of Ugandans implicated in human rights abuses or corruption, according to the statement.

The head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on Twitter that the law was "deplorable."

"Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's promulgation of the anti-homosexuality law is deplorable. This law is contrary to human rights," Borrell wrote.

"The Ugandan government has an obligation to protect all its citizens and uphold their fundamental rights. If it does not, it will jeopardize relations with its international partners," he added.

The law was also criticized during its debate by Amnesty International, which called it "deeply repressive."

Humanitarian organizations are concerned about the new norm, especially in terms of health care.

"Uganda's progress in its fight against HIV is seriously compromised," the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the U.S. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (USAID) said in a statement.

The statement warned about the law's interference in education and access to health and AIDS prevention services.

In Africa, homosexuality is a crime in more than 30 of the continent's 54 countries.

Source: Telam, AP and AFP

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