The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is urging Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to block an anti-LGBTQ law that provides harsh penalties for certain “homosexual offences”, including death and life imprisonment.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Volker Turk called the passage of this “discriminatory bill” a “deeply disturbing development”. He felt it was probably one of the worst laws of its kind in the world.
Uganda’s legislature passed the bill on Tuesday evening in an extended plenary session, during which last-minute changes were made.
The bill originally provided for penalties of up to 10 years in prison for “homosexual offences”. In the version voted by the legislators, the offense of “aggravated homosexuality” is now punishable by death in Uganda.
“Aggravated homosexuality” applies to cases of sexual relations involving HIV-infected persons, minors and other vulnerable persons.
Under the bill passed on Tuesday, a suspect convicted of ‘aggravated homosexuality’ can be jailed for 14 years, and the offense of ‘attempted homosexuality’ carries a sentence of up to 10 years.
The offense of “homosexuality” is punishable by life imprisonment – the same penalty provided for in a penal code from the British colonial era which criminalized “carnal acts contrary to the natural order”.
The bill was introduced last month by an opposition MP who said its aim was to punish ‘the promotion, recruitment and financing’ linked to LGBTQ activities in the East African country. where homosexuals are widely decried.
The text of the law is now in the hands of President Museveni, who can veto it or sign it. The president recently suggested in a speech that he supports this legislation, accusing unnamed Western nations of “trying to impose their practices on others”.
“If signed into law by the president, it will criminalize lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Uganda simply for existing, for being who they are,” High Commissioner Turk said on Wednesday. “It could give carte blanche for the systematic violation of almost all of their human rights and serves to pit people against each other. »
Homophobia in Uganda has increased in recent weeks amid allegations of sodomy at boarding schools, including a prestigious all-boys school where a parent accused a teacher of assaulting his son. Authorities are investigating the matter.
The Church of England’s recent move to bless civil marriages for same-sex couples has also inflamed many, including some who view homosexuality as imported from abroad.
Homosexuality is criminal in more than 30 of the 54 African countries.