Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill prescribing jail terms of up to 10 years for offenses related to same-sex relations, responding to popular sentiment but piling more pressure on the East African country's LGBTQ community.
Anti-gay sentiment in Uganda has grown in recent weeks amid alleged reports of sodomy in boarding schools, including a prestigious one for boys where a parent accused a teacher of abusing her son. Authorities are investigating that case.
Ugandan lawmakers passed a bill prescribing jail terms of up to 10 years for offenses related to same-sex relations, responding to popular sentiment but piling more pressure on the East African country's LGBTQ community.
The bill was passed late Tuesday inside a packed parliamentary chamber, and after a roll call ordered by the House speaker, who had repeatedly warned it was necessary to identify those who might oppose the bill.
It was supported by nearly all of the 389 legislators present.
바카라Congratulations,바카라 said Speaker Anita Among. 바카라Whatever we are doing, we are doing it for the people of Uganda.바카라
An earlier version of the bill enacted in 2014 later was nullified by a court on procedural grounds. Human Rights Watch has described the legislation as 바카라a more egregious version바카라 of the 2014 law, which drew widespread international concern and was struck down amid pressure from Uganda's development partners.
The bill now will go to President Yoweri Museveni, who can veto or sign it into law. He suggested in a recent speech that he supports the bill, accusing unnamed Western nations of 바카라trying to impose their practices on other people.바카라
The bill was introduced last month by an opposition lawmaker who said his goal was to punish 바카라promotion, recruitment and funding바카라 related to LGBTQ activities.
His bill creates the offense of 바카라aggravated homosexuality,바카라 which applies in cases of sex relations involving those infected with HIV as well as minors and other categories of vulnerable people.
It was not immediately clear what the punishment is for that offense following last-minute amendments in a protracted plenary session in the capital, Kampala.
The bill also creates the offense of 바카라attempted homosexuality,바카라 punishable with up to 10 years in jail.
Same-sex activity is already punishable with life imprisonment under a colonial-era law targeting 바카라carnal knowledge against the order of nature,바카라 partly the basis of a report by dissenters on the parliamentary committee that vetted the bill before Tuesday's vote.
The bill is 바카라ill-conceived바카라 and unconstitutional because it 바카라criminalises individuals instead of conduct,바카라 said lawmaker Fox Odoi, representing the dissenters.
The bill, if signed into law, 바카라would violate multiple fundamental rights, including rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality, and non-discrimination, according to Human Rights Watch.
바카라One of the most extreme features of this new bill is that it criminalises people simply for being who they are as well as further infringing on the rights to privacy, and freedoms of expression and association that are already compromised in Uganda,바카라 the group's Oryem Nyeko said in a statement earlier this month. 바카라Ugandan politicians should focus on passing laws that protect vulnerable minorities and affirm fundamental rights and stop targeting LGBT people for political capital.바카라
Anti-gay sentiment in Uganda has grown in recent weeks amid alleged reports of sodomy in boarding schools, including a prestigious one for boys where a parent accused a teacher of abusing her son. Authorities are investigating that case.
Uganda's LGBTQ community in recent years has faced pressure from civilian authorities who wanted a tough new law punishing same-sex activity.
The Ugandan agency overseeing the work of NGOs last year stopped the operations of Sexual Minorities Uganda, the most prominent LGBTQ organisation in the country, accusing it of failing to register legally. But the group's leader stated that his organization had been rejected by the registrar of companies as undesirable.
The recent decision of the Church of England to bless civil marriages of same-sex couples also has inflamed many, including some who see homosexuality as imported from abroad.
바카라The Church of England has departed from the Anglican faith and are now false teachers,바카라 Ugandan Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba said in a statement last month that described 바카라a crisis at hand.바카라
Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa's 54 countries. (AP) VM