KAMPALA: Uganda‘s President Yoweri Museveni has signed one of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, drawing Western condemnations and risking sanctions from aid donors. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in over 30 African countries, but the new law goes much further.
It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality. The law, which was introduced in parliament in March, calls for life imprisonment for anyone who engages in gay sex. Anyone who tries to have same-sex relations could be liable for up to a decade in prison. “The Ugandan president has today legalised state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia,” said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist. “It’s a very dark and sad day for the LGBTIQ community, our allies and all of Uganda.”
She and other activists have vowed a legal challenge to the law. Museveni has called homosexuality a “deviation from normal” and urged lawmakers to resist “imperialist” pressure. Uganda receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year and could now face sanctions. The bill’s sponsor, Asuman Basalirwa, said parliament speaker Anita Among’s US visa was cancelled after the law was signed. The US embassy in Uganda did not comment.
President Biden condemned the law on Monday and said the US will evaluate the implications of the law “on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda”. “This shameful act is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda.” The EU too condemned the move. The UN human rights body said the law was a recipe for systematic violation of Ugandans’ rights.
It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality. The law, which was introduced in parliament in March, calls for life imprisonment for anyone who engages in gay sex. Anyone who tries to have same-sex relations could be liable for up to a decade in prison. “The Ugandan president has today legalised state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia,” said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist. “It’s a very dark and sad day for the LGBTIQ community, our allies and all of Uganda.”
She and other activists have vowed a legal challenge to the law. Museveni has called homosexuality a “deviation from normal” and urged lawmakers to resist “imperialist” pressure. Uganda receives billions of dollars in foreign aid each year and could now face sanctions. The bill’s sponsor, Asuman Basalirwa, said parliament speaker Anita Among’s US visa was cancelled after the law was signed. The US embassy in Uganda did not comment.
President Biden condemned the law on Monday and said the US will evaluate the implications of the law “on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda”. “This shameful act is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda.” The EU too condemned the move. The UN human rights body said the law was a recipe for systematic violation of Ugandans’ rights.