UN to Uganda - Scrap Anti-Gay Laws
posted: 18/01/2010
The UN's top human rights official has called on Uganda to drop its proposed anti-homosexuality law that would impose the death penalty on gay and lesbian people with HIV, among others. Navi Pillay, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, joined a growing chorus condemning the bill as discriminatory and called for homosexuality to be decriminalised in the country.
"The bill proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered – namely life imprisonment, or in some cases, the death penalty," she said. "To criminalise people on the basis of colour or gender is now unthinkable in most countries. The same should apply to an individual's sexual orientation."
Bill fails human rights standards
Pillay called on the Ugandan ¬government to put the draft bill on hold because it breaches international human rights standards. ¬Pillay said Uganda had a generally "good track record" of co-operating with human rights mechanisms but the bill "threatens to seriously damage the country's reputation in the international arena".
The UN said Uganda's parliament may discuss the bill as early as this week. It has provoked criticism from western governments and gay rights groups and protests in London, New York and Washington.
President worries about threat to international aid
President Museveni has recently begun distancing himself from the bill. In his first public comments on the issue, he told a meeting of his ruling party that their handling of the bill "must take into account our foreign policy interests".
He said: "When I was at the Commonwealth conference, what was [the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper] talking about? The gays. UK prime minister Gordon Brown ... what was he talking about? The gays."
Nsaba Buturo, the ethics and integrity minister, has said a revised law would now probably limit the maximum penalty for gay people with HIV to life in prison rather than execution.
Existing anti-gay law has 14 year jail penalty
Homosexual acts are already punishable by up to 14 years in jail in Uganda. The private member's bill, tabled last year, would raise that penalty to life in prison. And it proposes the death penalty for a new offence of "aggravated homosexuality" – defined as when one of the participants is a minor, or HIV-positive, or a "serial offender".
Sneaks and harassers charter
It could also lead to a prison sentence of up to three years for anyone failing to report within 24 hours the identities of any lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered person.
A local independent newspaper, the Daily Monitor, quoted parliament's speaker as saying the legislative body would debate the bill despite President Museveni's call for more talks. Edward Ssekandi said: "There is no way we can be intimidated by remarks from the president to stop this bill."
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