2023-05-30 06:23:42
29/05/2023
The President of Uganda promulgated this Monday, May 29, a controversial law against the LGBT community that includes harsh penalties for relationships between people of the same sex and for organizations that ‘promote’ it. The norm has been widely criticized on the international stage, and is also described as one of the most repressive in the world.
“The president passed the anti-homosexuality bill 2023”, announced the office of the president, Yoweri Museveni, in a brief statement on his Twitter account.
The law, criticized by the UN and countries like the United States, was approved on March 21 in Parliament. The legislators defended the norm affirming that these measures protect the national culture and its values.
The promulgation fueled the fears unleashed in the first readings, during which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, described the text as “discriminatory”.
The High Commissioner expressed on Monday his “dismay” at the enactment of this “draconian” legislationalso stating that “it is contrary to the Constitution and international treaties” and opens ways for there to be “systematic violations of the rights of LGBT people”.
At the end of April, President Museveni asked parliamentarians to re-examine the texturging them to specify that it is not a crime “to be homosexual”, but they are penalized relationships between people of the same gender.
The amendment clarified that sexual orientation will not be a crime, but “acts” that can be punished, even with life imprisonment.
Despite Museveni advising lawmakers to remove a provision criminalizing “aggravated homosexuality”, the parliamentarians maintained this article that implies that repeat offenders can even be sentenced to death.
Homosexuality is criminalized in Uganda since the laws that governed during colonizationbut since independence in 1962 there has never been a conviction for consensual sexual acts between people of the same gender.
The legislation enjoys broad public support in Uganda, a predominantly Christian country, where people are very religious and the LGBT community suffers a lot of discrimination.
The debate on the law in Parliament was marked by the use of homophobic insults and the president himself referred to people who are attracted to others of the same gender as “perverts.”
“Defend the culture”
The president of Parliament, Anita Among, celebrated this Monday for the promulgation of the text.
“As the Parliament of Uganda, we take into account the concerns of our people and legislate to protect the sanctity of the family. (…) We stood firm to defend the culture, values and aspirations of our people”, he stated.
The law establishes that the organizations who are accused of encouraging relationships between people of the same sex They can be banned for ten years.
The reactions of civil society have been muted in a country where Museveni has ruled with an iron fist since 1986, however, internationally, the bill sparked outrage.
After the first vote, on March 21, the White House warned the Ugandan government of possible economic repercussions if the law went into effect.
During its processing, this standard was also condemned by the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom.
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The ley In addition, they criticized her during her debate by Amnesty International, which described her as “deeply repressive”.
Because the law generates fears among humanitarian organizations.
“Uganda’s progress in its fight against HIV is seriously compromised,” three organizations said in a statement, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and the US agency USAID.
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