The only thing missing from the law is the signature of President Museveni: life imprisonment is foreseen for “aggravated” forms
All but two: the entire Ugandan parliament has passed a law providing for life imprisonment and the death penalty for homosexuals. He had already thought about it in 2014, but at the time the provision was rejected by the Constitutional Court due to “a formal defect”. This time only the signature of the president-autocrat Yoveri Museveni is missing, who has always sided against the rights of the Lgbtq+ community. The other evening, out of 389 deputies, only two members of the governing party voted “no”, who are worth remembering by name: Fox Odoi-Oywelowo and Paul Kwizera.
The halter law was presented by an opposition colleague, Asuman Basalirwa, with “the aim of protecting traditional family values”.
In at least thirty African countries homosexuality is outlawed. Uganda is at the forefront of this homophobic crowd. It is also forbidden to say it: those who declare themselves LGBTQ+ risk 20 years in prison. The death penalty is foreseen for cases of what is defined as “aggravated homosexuality”, when there is the involvement of minors or people with AIDS.
The “anti-homosexuality law” has provoked indignant reactions inside and outside the small African country, the one that boasts the youngest population in the world (average age 16). From the United States, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke of “a clear violation of the fundamental rights of all Ugandans” and invited the government not to promote it.
Uganda is historically an ally of the USA, even if Museveni (and his wife Janet, Minister of Education) have often played on the “cultural contrast” with the West to justify the growing oppression of homosexuals (for example against Sexual Minoritties Uganda, the largest NGO of LGBTQ+ militants). Thunder international organizations, from Amnesty International to Human Rights Watch.
Famous activists in Uganda, such as Frank Mugisha and Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, have made their voices heard: “I am proud to be Ugandan,” Kasha told the Guardian — and our fight against this law begins now.’ Ordinary people suffer the most, such as the 110 individuals who in February reported (not to the authorities, but to NGOs) that they had been victims of violence, abuse, undressing in public because they were “guilty” of being homosexuals.
On March 16, a contemptuous Museveni proclaimed on TV that “Western countries should stop trying to impose their deviant practices on the rest of the world.” When is a triumphal visit by Russian Minister Lavrov to Kampala?
March 22, 2023 (change March 22, 2023 | 20:23)
© Time.News