LGBTI People Endangered by Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda

A draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill, that may be debated and voted upon as early as this week by the Ugandan Parliament, would further endanger Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) people in a country where gay rights are already absent. Freedom House condemns the draft bill, and any laws that restrict the rights of LGBTI people, and calls for the Parliament to reject it.

Same-sex relations between consenting adults are currently criminalized under the Ugandan Penal Code with punishment of up to life imprisonment.  If adopted, the new draft law will ban the “promotion of homosexuality,” which poses a significant threat to anyone working for LGBTI rights.  The bill introduces additional draconian provisions including criminal penalties for anyone, including family members and public health professionals, who fail to report violations of the law within 24 hours. There are conflicting reports that a death penalty provision originally included in the draft bill may have been removed; however, these claims cannot be confirmed until the text of the bill is publicly released. Ugandan LGBTI groups are genuinely concerned that the draft bill, which has been resurrected several times since it was first introduced in 2009, will be put to a vote before the end of the year. Speaker of the Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has promised to pass the bill as a “Christmas gift” to Uganda.

“The existing Ugandan sodomy law already violates fundamental human rights enshrined in the Ugandan Constitution and protected under international law,” said Ariel Herrera, senior program officer for the Dignity for All: LGBTI Assistance Program at Freedom House.  “The Anti-Homosexuality bill will only further entrench discrimination and prejudice and incite increased harassment and violence against anyone suspected of being LGBTI.”

Uganda has taken an aggressive stance against homosexuality, and LGBTI people face harassment, physical attacks and even murder in the case of David Kato, an LGBTI activist who was bludgeoned to death after his photo was published on the front page of a local newspaper in 2010. Advocates fear that, in addition to the danger posed by the bill for LGBTI people, it will also undermine public health efforts against the spread of HIV/AIDS. A coalition of Ugandan LGBTI organizations has called for international solidarity action to denounce the bill and the staging of peaceful protests at Ugandan foreign missions.

Uganda is rated Partly Free in the 2012 editions of Freedom House’s Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press surveys.

For more information, visit:

Freedom in the World 2012: Uganda

Countries at the Crossroads 2012: Uganda

Freedom of the Press 2012: Uganda

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