Arasa condemns Ugandan anti homosexuality bill

A WINDHOEK-BASED AIDS rights organisation, Arasa, in conjunction with other human rights groups, has spoken out against a bill that has been tabled in the Ugandan parliament that criminalises homosexuality.

According to reports in the Ugandan media, the bill, introduced on October 14 by Ugandan Member of Parliament David Bahati, ‘would see a death penalty imposed on anyone engaged in gay sex with someone below 18 years, or when the accused is HIV positive’.Its provisions also include a life sentence for those guilty of ‘the act of homosexuality’, and the outlawing of organisations that ‘promote homosexuality’.The AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa (Arasa) says the bill threatens to violate individuals’ rights to equality, autonomy, bodily integrity and privacy.It also would threaten the achievements made to date in the country’s response to HIV.Along with the AIDS Law Project, the Global Network of People Living with HIV, and the International Network of Religious Leaders living with and affected by HIV, Arasa says the Bill would prevent civil society organisations from advocating for the rights of men and women in same-sex relationships, and that it would prevent them from disseminating health information.’Provisions in the Bill that make it an offence to ‘promote’ homosexuality place unacceptable limitations on the rights to freedom of expression and association,’ says Arasa’s Director, Michaela Clayton. She adds that the Bill would ‘effectively allow the government to shut down civil society organisations and media houses that engage in any activities that are deemed to support ‘homosexuality and related activities’.’The proposed bill has also come under fire from several organisations in Uganda which say the bill is a violation of human rights.’It cannot be implemented without making every citizen spy on his or her neighbours. The last time this was done was in the Amin era, where everyone very quickly became an ‘enemy of the state’,’ the coalition stated.