The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has submitted a legal brief to Ugandan President Yowere Museveni outlining how adoption of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently being debated would breach both Uganda’s Constitution and its international treaty obligations. 

ERT’s submission calls on President Museveni and Ugandan parliamentarians to reject the Bill in its entirety, and to review the constitutionality of section 145 of the Ugandan Penal Code, which is currently used to prosecute homosexual conduct. 

The 23-page submission by The Equal Rights Trust focuses solely on the rights to equality and non-discrimination, providing a detailed analysis of the way in which the proposed Bill would affect the enjoyment of these rights. ERT argues that protection from discrimination provided by the Constitution of Uganda includes protection on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. It further argues that the Bill does not comply with the Constitution’s own provisions for restricting fundamental rights. In the second part of the submission, ERT turns to questions of compliance with international law from the point of view of equality and non-discrimination.

Speaking about the ERT legal submission, ERT Executive Director Dimitrina Petrova said:

“This discriminatory Bill does a disservice to the people of Uganda – it is both illegal and immoral. 

"It violates basic human rights, including the rights to equality and non-discrimination, contravenes the Constitution of Uganda and breaches Uganda’s international treaty obligations.

“We urge Uganda’s parliamentarians to have regard to the principles of the Constitution and to reject this Bill outright.”

To see ERT’s submission to the Ugandan President, click here.