London, 21 January 2014
Following its recent approval by the Parliament of Uganda, The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has repeated its call to the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, not to sign the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. After writing to the President during the Bill’s passage through Parliament criticising the legislation, ERT has again written to President Museveni, urging him to exercise his power under Article 91 of the Constitution of Uganda not to assent to the Bill. Recent reports have emerged that the President has indicated his intention not to do so, criticising the manner in which the Bill was passed.
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which was first proposed in 2009 as a Private Member’s Bill in the Parliament of Uganda, was finally passed by the Parliament on 20 December 2013, much to the surprise of many both inside and outside of Uganda, after a vote on the Bill was unexpectedly called by Speaker of the Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga. The Bill makes same-sex sexual conduct punishable by up to fourteen years’ imprisonment and creates a new offence of “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by life imprisonment. ERT wrote to President Museveni and others when the Bill was proposed and again in February 2013. Today’s letter repeats the concerns ERT has made before that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill:
(i) systematically denies LGBT people the right to enjoy equal protection of the law;
(ii) criminalises the formation of private relationships;
(iii) makes it impossible for LGBT people to live their lives with dignity;
(iv) denies their inherent right to equality under Article 21 of the Constitution of Uganda; and
(v) constitutes a gross violation of the rights to equality and privacy as protected under international and regional human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Reports have emerged that the President is not prepared to sign the Bill at present. However, although he does not appear to support the Bill, the President is reported to have said that homosexuality is an abnormal condition which goes against nature and can be cured, that some individuals become homosexual for “mercenary reasons” (i.e. for financial gain) and that the issue would therefore be addressed through economic empowerment.
Whilst ERT welcomes and supports the President’s indication that he will not sign the Bill into law, ERT remains deeply concerned that the gross violations of human rights which are a consequence of the Bill remain unrecognised and ignored by political leaders in Uganda. ERT calls on the President to recognise Uganda’s duty under international human rights law to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of all persons in Uganda to non-discrimination on grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and to remain steadfast in refusing to sign the Bill.
To read ERT’s latest letter to President Museveni, please click here .
To read ERT’s letter to President Museveni from December 2009, please click here .
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