Officials: Uganda's leader to sign anti-gay bill that includes life imprisonment
KAMPALA, Uganda -- President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda plans to sign a bill into law that prescribes life imprisonment for "aggravated" homosexual acts, officials said Friday.
Museveni announced his decision to governing party lawmakers, said government spokesman Ofwono Opondo. In Twitter posts on Friday, Opondo said the legislators, who are holding a retreat chaired by Museveni, "welcomed the development as a measure to protect Ugandans from social deviants."
Evelyn Anite, a spokeswoman for the governing party, said Museveni promised to sign the bill after he reads a report he has received from Ugandan "medical experts" saying "homosexuality is not genetic but a social behavior."
Both officials said no date has been set for the signing.
Homosexuality already is criminalized in Uganda under a colonial-era law that criminalizes sex acts "against the order of nature."
Museveni has criticized gays as "abnormal" people who should be "rehabilitated." But he had previously said he opposed the legislation that Parliament passed on Dec. 20.
The bill would allow life imprisonment for acts of "aggravated homosexuality," defined as homosexual acts where one of the partners is infected with HIV, sex with minors or the disabled, and repeated sexual offenses among consenting adults. The bill also would make conducting a same-sex marriage ceremony punishable by seven years in prison.
Museveni has been under pressure within his own party to sign the bill since its passage.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have urged Museveni to reject the bill, which is popular among Christian clerics and lawmakers who say is necessary to deter Western homosexuals from "recruiting" children in Uganda.
On Friday, the organization Human Rights First expressed "deep concern" over the reports that the bill will be signed into law, saying it "will have severely adverse consequences for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as well as other Ugandans.'"
Robyn Lieberman of Human Rights First said, "There should be no doubt that Museveni's latest words on the subject have been influenced by the reaction to similar legislation in Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere."
Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said, "Unless this bill is stopped from becoming law, lives will be destroyed and countless people will be punished for an immutable characteristic."
He said, "Anti-LGBT Americans advocated for laws further criminalizing LGBT people in Uganda, and it looks like they are now getting their wish. Whether it's Brian Brown advocating for anti-LGBT laws in Russia or Scott Lively calling for the further criminalization of LGBT people in Uganda, anti-LGBT Americans must stop exporting their hate abroad."
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/officials-u ... risonment/
Another fun country to visit
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Re: Another fun country to visit
Uganda tabloid names "200 top" homosexuals after controversial anti-gay law passed
AP / February 25, 2014
KAMPALA, Uganda -- A Ugandan newspaper published a list Tuesday of what it called the country's "200 top" homosexuals, outing some Ugandans who previously had not identified themselves as gay one day after the president enacted a harsh anti-gay law.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday's signing of the bill by President Yoweri Museveni marked "a tragic day for Uganda and for all who care about the cause of human rights" and warned that Washington could cut aid to the government of the East African nation.
"Now that this law has been enacted, we are beginning an internal review of our relationship with the Government of Uganda to ensure that all dimensions of our engagement, including assistance programs, uphold our anti-discrimination policies and principles and reflect our values," Kerry said in a statement.
The Red Pepper tabloid published the names - and some pictures - in a front-page story under the headline: "EXPOSED!"
The list included prominent Ugandan gay activists such as Pepe Julian Onziema, who has repeatedly warned that Uganda's new anti-gay law could spark violence against homosexuals. There was a popular Ugandan hip-hop star as well as a Catholic priest.
Few Ugandans identify themselves as gay, and the tabloid's publication of alleged homosexuals recalled a similar list published in 2011 by a now-defunct tabloid that called for the execution of gays. A Ugandan judge later condemned the outing of homosexuals in a country where gays face severe discrimination, saying it amounted to an invasion of privacy. A prominent Ugandan gay activist was killed after that list came out, and activists said at the time that they believed David Kato was targeted because of his work promoting gay rights in Uganda.
The new law punishes gay sex with up to life in jail - a measure criticized as draconian in a country where homosexuality already had been criminalized. The bill originally proposed the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner is infected with HIV. The law also calls for first-time offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in jail.
In signing the bill, Museveni said the measure is needed because the West is promoting homosexuality in Africa, rejecting international criticism of the law as interference in Uganda's internal affairs. Museveni accused "arrogant and careless Western groups" of trying to recruit Ugandan children into homosexuality, but he did not name these purported groups.
Ugandan police spokesman Patrick Onyango said on Tuesday thatno homosexuals have been arrested since Museveni signed the bill but that at least two had been taken into custody since lawmakers passed the bill last December.
Onziema, the gay activist, said he had counted up to six arrests and that more than a dozen Ugandan homosexuals had fled the country since December over safety concerns.
Homosexuality has long been criminalized in Uganda under a colonial-era law that outlawed sex acts "against the order of nature."
Some Ugandan lawyers and activists have said they will challenge the law in court as unconstitutional and impossible to implement.
Nicholas Opiyo, a Ugandan lawyer who runs a rights watchdog group called Chapter Four, predicted Tuesday that it make life worse for Ugandan gays.
"The enactment of the anti-homosexuality bill has only emboldened the ... population in their rejection of anybody perceived to be gay or even friendly to gays," he said. "These things are going to continue. They are going to get more frequent."
The Ugandan law - which came just over a month after Nigeria passed a similar measure against gays - has been condemned around the world, although it is widely popular among Ugandans.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned that the law would institutionalize discrimination and could encourage harassment and violence against gays.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/uganda-tabl ... aw-passed/
_______________________________________________________
Yoweri Museveni
"By the look of you, you might be the wife of Lucifer!"
- Edna May Oliver (Miss Pross), 'A Tale of Two Cities'
AP / February 25, 2014
KAMPALA, Uganda -- A Ugandan newspaper published a list Tuesday of what it called the country's "200 top" homosexuals, outing some Ugandans who previously had not identified themselves as gay one day after the president enacted a harsh anti-gay law.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday's signing of the bill by President Yoweri Museveni marked "a tragic day for Uganda and for all who care about the cause of human rights" and warned that Washington could cut aid to the government of the East African nation.
"Now that this law has been enacted, we are beginning an internal review of our relationship with the Government of Uganda to ensure that all dimensions of our engagement, including assistance programs, uphold our anti-discrimination policies and principles and reflect our values," Kerry said in a statement.
The Red Pepper tabloid published the names - and some pictures - in a front-page story under the headline: "EXPOSED!"
The list included prominent Ugandan gay activists such as Pepe Julian Onziema, who has repeatedly warned that Uganda's new anti-gay law could spark violence against homosexuals. There was a popular Ugandan hip-hop star as well as a Catholic priest.
Few Ugandans identify themselves as gay, and the tabloid's publication of alleged homosexuals recalled a similar list published in 2011 by a now-defunct tabloid that called for the execution of gays. A Ugandan judge later condemned the outing of homosexuals in a country where gays face severe discrimination, saying it amounted to an invasion of privacy. A prominent Ugandan gay activist was killed after that list came out, and activists said at the time that they believed David Kato was targeted because of his work promoting gay rights in Uganda.
The new law punishes gay sex with up to life in jail - a measure criticized as draconian in a country where homosexuality already had been criminalized. The bill originally proposed the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," defined as repeated gay sex between consenting adults and acts involving a minor, a disabled person or where one partner is infected with HIV. The law also calls for first-time offenders to be sentenced to 14 years in jail.
In signing the bill, Museveni said the measure is needed because the West is promoting homosexuality in Africa, rejecting international criticism of the law as interference in Uganda's internal affairs. Museveni accused "arrogant and careless Western groups" of trying to recruit Ugandan children into homosexuality, but he did not name these purported groups.
Ugandan police spokesman Patrick Onyango said on Tuesday thatno homosexuals have been arrested since Museveni signed the bill but that at least two had been taken into custody since lawmakers passed the bill last December.
Onziema, the gay activist, said he had counted up to six arrests and that more than a dozen Ugandan homosexuals had fled the country since December over safety concerns.
Homosexuality has long been criminalized in Uganda under a colonial-era law that outlawed sex acts "against the order of nature."
Some Ugandan lawyers and activists have said they will challenge the law in court as unconstitutional and impossible to implement.
Nicholas Opiyo, a Ugandan lawyer who runs a rights watchdog group called Chapter Four, predicted Tuesday that it make life worse for Ugandan gays.
"The enactment of the anti-homosexuality bill has only emboldened the ... population in their rejection of anybody perceived to be gay or even friendly to gays," he said. "These things are going to continue. They are going to get more frequent."
The Ugandan law - which came just over a month after Nigeria passed a similar measure against gays - has been condemned around the world, although it is widely popular among Ugandans.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned that the law would institutionalize discrimination and could encourage harassment and violence against gays.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/uganda-tabl ... aw-passed/
_______________________________________________________
Yoweri Museveni
"By the look of you, you might be the wife of Lucifer!"
- Edna May Oliver (Miss Pross), 'A Tale of Two Cities'