A Ugandan MP has introduced a bill which would impose the death penalty on HIV-positive gay men in Uganda if they have sex with another man.
David Bahati’s bill is seeking to introduce an offence of “aggravated homosexuality” which would also impose the death penalty for same-sex activity if one of the partners is disabled or under 18 years of age.
An independent Ugandan MP, John Otekat Emile, is quoted by BBC Online as saying that the bill has a “99% chance” of passing.
Earlier drafts of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009 punish homosexuality with a massive fine of 10 million Ugandan shillings and a maximum of ten years in prison.
The bill also seeks to punish the “promotion of homosexuality” - including funding and sponsoring LGBT organisations and broadcasting, publishing, or selling materials on homosexuality – with a fine and a minimum of five years in prison.
According to the International Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Commission, anyone who fails to report known violations of the law within 24 hours will also be subject to up to six months in prison for neglecting to report in their colleagues, family, or friends.
The bill also claims jurisdiction over Ugandans who violate its provisions while abroad, so that, for example, a Ugandan citizen normally resident in the United Kingdom could be convicted and imprisoned if he or she visits Uganda, on the basis of allegations that they have committed any of these offences while in the United Kingdom.
Uganda is a recipient of significant international HIV aid.Concern has been expressed that money from the US PEPFAR programme has gone to rabidly homophobic organisations.
In 2008, activists were arrested at an international conference in Uganda when they protested against the Ugandan government’s decision that gay men would not receive any HIV resources.
There has been an increasing level of discrimination and violence against people in Uganda because of their sexuality in recent months. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has highlighted the detention of four men for 90 days without trial under Uganda’s already draconian anti-homosexuality laws. A fifth man, Brian Pande, died in hospital of undisclosed causes in mid September. Anti-gay organisations organised a protest rally in Uganda's capital Kampala in August.
The IGLHRC has also highlighted that the proposed legislation is in direct contravention of numerous international human rights agreements to which Uganda is a signatory.
Furthermore, they also believe that it violates several clauses of the Ugandan constitution, which supposedly guarantees the right to privacy, the right to freedom of speech, expression and assembly, the protection of minorities, and the protection of civic rights and activities.
This article was first published by NAM/Aidsmap.com and is republished with permission.
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They all love to do it, regardless of nationality, race, religion. Gay bashing is tolerated in all but the most civilised nations.. and even there its not universal.
Then again, Africa has always been a place full of backwardness, war, hunger, poverty, so what can we expect? :S
There is some point which most of us should really think of it carefully....having sex with minor and having sex without inform your partner or safety action as you knew that yourself are HIV positive....
Ofcause it should not be only on Gay ppl....what about others?
I am constantly disappointed at the standard of intelligence displayed by some here.
" There is evidence to suggest that support for Bahati's bill has come from extreme-right Christians in the United States of America who are working through allied churches and parliamentarians in Uganda. In March 2009 the Family Life Network, led by Ugandan Pastor Stephen Langa (affiliated to the Kampala Pentecostal Church), hosted a workshop entitled 'Exposing the truth behind homosexuality and the homosexual agenda'. The workshop trainers included members of three American organisations well-known in US Christian rightwing circles:
Scott Lively, co-founder of the hate group Watchmen on the Walls and author of The Pink Swastika, a pseudo-history book claiming that militant male homosexuals helped mastermind the Nazi holocaust;
Caleb Lee Brundidge, a 'sexual reorientation' coach for the International Healing Foundation, a Christian organisation that aims to 'free' people from 'unwanted same-sex attraction';
Don Schmierer, a board member for Exodus International, an umbrella body for Christian groups that seek to 'reform' homosexuals using Christian teachings.
Alongside the workshop, the Americans also met with MPs and influential religious actors.
The Family Life Network has mobilised through churches across the country to deliver a petition to parliament calling for the introduction of stronger legislation against homosexuality. Bahati's bill is the result."
See the whole article at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200910161126.html
"We hear that first daughter Patience Rwabwogo, a few weeks ago, started a church in the courtyard of her plush Buziga home! Covenant Nations Church (CNC), as it is called, is housed under a marquee, has a pulpit and is led by pastor Patience Rwabwogo...A scout who attended church service at CNC recently sighted MP David Bahati with his wife, and Susan Muhwezi and her children among other high profile ‘sheep’. Pastor Patience eloquently preached about taking over the Promised Land and having the heart of a warrior. "
Link: http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/40/520014
If these Ugandan postings are true, it all sounds remarkably familiar.
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/03/25/10104
I had just wanted to say that what I thought was still not being acknowledged here: the Ugandan government is an entirely steeplejacked one. I don't know if they still retain the Westminster system there, but if they do, it is important to note that even the President - a non-political appointment in the Westminster system - is a fundamentalist Christian of the American Christian Right variety. This brand of Christianity, just as it is everywhere else, is behind the rampant homophobia that has been overtaking the African continent in the last many years.
Look how similar the Ugandan government's actions are to the actions of Singapore's own Amy Khor and Lui Tuck Yew, both known Christian extremists, when they spearheaded the Penal Code 'reform' to retain legislation that discriminates against gay men EXCLUSIVELY.
Re: "...the Anti-Homosexuality Bill proposes the death penalty for those having gay sex with disabled people, under-18s or when the accused is HIV-positive."
Why isn't there any equality under the law in Uganda, just as the case is in Singapore, if HIV+ heterosexuals are not penalized for having sex with 'disabled people, under-18s or when the accused is HIV-positive'?
"Churches denounce African children as "witches""
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/17/AR2009101700824.html]
Apparently churches in Nigeria are facing stiff competition from each other, because they are springing up in large numbers, like weeds, all over the place. So, in order to get more customers, each of them pretends to have the power to detect witches. Wherever there is any problem of any kind, these churches lay the blame on some child in the neighbourhood, calling it a witch, and they "exorcise" that child, for which they charge its parents huge amounts of money. The child is also killed, maimed, etc. It seems the families also cooperate because they are secretly happy to have one less mouth to feed.
It is natural that the Church is behind this modified version of witch hunting in Uganda. The same mindlessness, hatred, arrogance and greed can be seen here too. The irony is that it's all done in the name of a "Loving God"! Deja vu.
It seems they don't care about HIV+ straight men having sex with uninfected women. Women don't count. It's not about the disease; it's about gay people.
What will this mean to Ugandans? The possibilities are endless. Blackmail, shame, torture, imprisonment, death. Anyone, gay or straight, can be accused of being gay and punished. Their friends can be punished "for not dobbing them in". People can be tortured to confess to being gay; they can be tortured to confess to performing "disgusting acts" with other people that they will name under torture. A nice twist to the Inquisition of old. A nice shiny new weapon in the hands of the police, the government and the Church.
Any attempts at education or awareness building will be treated as "gay promotion" and will be punished severely. The Church certainly has all its bases covered. They've become really good at that, with centuries of practice.
The Bill is the ultimate in “shut up and sit down”:
“The bill is aimed at increasing and expanding penalties for 'homosexual acts' and for all institutions (including NGOs, donors and private companies) who defend the rights of people who engage in sexual relations with people of the same gender. The bill also calls for Uganda to withdraw from all international treaties and conventions which support the rights of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, introduces extradition arrangements for Ugandan citizens who perform 'homosexual acts' abroad, and includes legal penalties for people who fail to report alleged homosexual acts or individuals and institutions that promote homosexuality or same-sex marriage to the authorities. The death penalty is mandated for HIV-positive people who engage in sex with people of the same gender. The tabling of the bill has been accompanied by threats against any Ugandan media organisation that allows LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Ugandans to air their views or publish press statements.” (http://allafrica.com/stories/200910161126.html)
MyManFriday, you’re correct in your assertions about where it’s likely to lead in Uganda; it’s already happening (see article at post 17 – activist tortured for 3 days into false confessions and into joining ex-gay group). It’s worse than McCarthyism.
Uganda also shows that it’s not just Islamic extremists that want the death penalty for gays or have religion-inspired terrorists (the sadistic terrorist organization in Northern Uganda is called “The Lord’s Resistance Army” and is vaguely based around the Ten Commandments). The problem is not a particular religion, it’s religious fundamentalism and extremism.
Thanks for the reminder, [steveuk].
As for this comment,
Re: "...it appears to be similar U.S.- origin extremist religious groups behind it as seem to be behind anti-gay events in Asia. I have to wonder if this is an example of the real agenda of these groups for all countries, further down the road."
I wonder if you are familiar with the articles that [dogemperor] wrote for a Singapore website (temasekreview.com) during the AWARE incident. He is an American who specializes in the area of steeplejacking.
I could post some links later on if you or anyone else would like it. Very detailed stuff.
Asian countries especially in poorer regions are also in danger of falling for this bigotry under the guise of charity work e.g Korean church work in afghanistan; working with minority communities in China. Whilst some of their work is indubitably worthy but there is definitely an agenda for conversion to the church. Unfortunately, spiritual salvation for these could mean also increased homophobia amongst the same.
We could start by making a stand within our families and communities to stop all support for businesses, establishments and politicians who actively lobby against giving queers any semblence of a dignified life.
On the subject of HIV (btw those sections were added to the Bill by the government), if they really wanted to tackle it they would have to first tackle the endemic government corruption/theft of aid and medicines:
"For most Ugandans, the fact that $300 million dollars are lost to corruption every year (as estimated by the World Bank) is felt in every social service which is underfunded. Medicines lost to corruption mean that HIV and AIDS patients go hungry AND go without medicine. There is currently a shortage of anti-retroviral AIDS medicines in the country. Uganda’s corruption became legendary when government officials stole funds from the Global Health Fund, which had been put in place to bypass corrupt governments."
http://ugandagenocide.info/?p=100
There's also a report by the (UK) Serious Fraud Office who are part of a team investigating:
http://www.sfo.gov.uk/about-us/annual-reports--accounts/annual-reports/annual-report-2008-2009/helping-in-the-fight-against-corruption-in-uganda.aspx
See the section
"APPENDIX A
Ten Rules for Debating "Gay" Arguments (As applied in a hypothetical conversation)."
This paragraph neatly dispenses with the need to deal in or believe any facts:
"if you find yourself dependent on studies and statistics to persuade someone of the wrongness of homosexuality and that it should not be legitimized in society, you have already lost the debate. Consider: a person who remains un-persuaded by a reminder of the obvious truth has revealed himself to be an intellectual reprobate for whom facts are ultimately meaningless. Yet if you, by retreating to secondary evidence, grant that obvious truth is insufficient to prove your case, you voluntarily invite a debate context which favors those who are willing to cheat and lie to win."
http://www.newswithviews.com/conspiracy/conspiracy6.htm
The only positive thing about it is that it is so badly written that many of its provisions will be unenforceable. That however will be small comfort for people in gay relationships living together and known by their neighbours who, up to now, might have giggled a little at what they thought might be going on behind closed doors, but basically couldn't give a damn. Now, with poverty endemic, some of these will be tempted to 'shop' the 'offenders' to corrupt police who will demand a bribe and, if forthcoming, split the proceeds between them.
It is a horrible and daunting prospect.
I hope they revoke their funding if it is true that it is not being allocated appropriately.
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