Uganda: Government promises to maintain anti-gay Bill
The government has agreed to retain the death penalty in the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2023, while provisions requiring the reporting of homosexual acts will be eliminated.
First Lady Janet Museveni proposed that the law include comprehensive rehabilitation provisions to assist those who wish to abandon their homosexual practices.
Thursday’s caucus meeting between President Museveni and members of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) resulted in these and other changes, among others.
When President Museveni returns the Bill to Parliament for reconsideration, it will take effect.
With a unified stance among the majority of NRM legislators, the proposals will likely pass.
The bill passed last month imposes severe fines and prison terms (up to 20 years) for a variety of offenses, including same-sex activities, aggravated homosexuality, promoting homosexuality, and child grooming, among others.
Ms. Museveni stated that the current law focuses more on preventing homosexuality and less on punishing those who are already practicing it.
She stated, “I believe our law will be complete if we enact a statute that criminalizes all of the other deviant behaviors prevalent in our society but also provides a method for those who wish to reform to return to normalcy.”
In its present form, the court has the discretion to order the provision of social services for rehabilitation purposes upon conviction.
The retention of the death penalty is a departure from a previous opinion of the Attorney General, which stated that the death penalty for convicted offenders of aggravated homosexuality, as provided in Clause 3(1) of the Bill, violates constitutional provisions.
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In a phone interview with Sunday Monitor on Friday, Mr. Jackson Kafuuzi, the Deputy Attorney General, stated that further examination of the provision’s language had ruled out any unconstitutionality.
“We were saying that it makes the death penalty mandatory, but if you look at the language of the bill, it says that the offender is ‘liable to die’. Mr. Kafuuzi explained that courts have interpreted this to mean that the judge or presiding officer has the discretion to decide whether the sentence should be death or not.
He added, “Had it stated shall die,’ it would have eliminated the discretion of the presiding officer.”
The enacted Act defines aggravated homosexuality as the offense of homosexuality when the victim is younger than 14 or older than 75, a person living with a disability or mental illness, or a person who contracts a disease with no scientific cure, or when the offender is a parent, guardian, or serial offender.
Based on ambiguity, the government also decided to eliminate provisions criminalizing the failure to report acts of homosexuality. The offense is punishable by a fine of 5,000 currency points (Shs100m) or six months in prison.
“The only one we’ve agreed to remove is Clause 14 because if we keep it, it will create ambiguity and leave room for challenge.” Mr. Kafuuzi stated, “We want a law that is impenetrable to avoid the fate of the original law.”
During the April 18 parliamentary session, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa stated, “If there is any other issue, we are willing to do our part even if it requires a stronger Bill than the one we currently have.”
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After the caucus meeting, NRM Chief Whip Hamson Obua stated that President Museveni was in agreement with the majority of the provisions and had agreed to sign the bill once the proposed changes are implemented.
President Museveni has remained defiant in the face of international pressure to veto the legislation.
Significant partners and donors, such as the European Union (EU), have flagged the law as regressive and discriminatory, opening the door to the possibility of sanctions. The 20 April resolution of the European Parliament “strongly condemned” Uganda’s anti-gay bill and singled out President Museveni’s “hateful rhetoric against LGBTIQ individuals.”
The European Parliament also warned that if the bill is enacted, it will have no choice but to push for the “activation of the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime.”
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