by WorldTribune Staff, April 7, 2024
The Biden Administration was furious after Uganda’s Constitutional Court paved the way for the enforcement of the country’s new anti-homosexual law.
In their ruling on Wednesday, the judges said the Anti-Homosexual Act (AHA), passed in 2023, is meant to protect children, especially in cases where recruitment and targeting of children has been reported.
Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act, which took effect last May, says engaging in acts of homosexuality is punishable by life imprisonment. The 2023 law also imposes the death penalty for what it calls “aggravated homosexuality,” including sexual relations involving people infected with HIV, as well as sex with people categorized as vulnerable, including minors and the elderly.
The law also increases the prison sentence for attempted same-sex conduct to 10 years.
Team Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement: “The Uganda Constitutional Court’s decision to uphold most aspects of the Anti-Homosexuality Act is deeply disappointing, imperils human rights, and jeopardizes economic prosperity for all Ugandans. While the Court overturned some clauses of the law, in failing to fully overturn the Act, the Court has left LGBTQI+ persons vulnerable to hate-fueled violence, discrimination, persecution, life imprisonment, or even the death penalty – simply for existing as they are.”
In a letter to the Parliament of Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni said the law needed to be clear and distinguish between someone who professes a homosexual lifestyle and someone who actually commits homosexual acts.
“The proposed law should be clear so that what is thought to be criminalized is not the state of one having a deviant proclivity but rather the actions of one acting on that deviancy,” Museveni wrote in the letter. “The bill should be reviewed and include a provision that clearly states… a person who is believed or alleged or suspected of being a homosexual who has not committed a sexual act with another person of the same sex does not commit an offense.”
The judges did rule that the law infringes on some rights, specifically parts of the law that would effectively deny members of the LGBT community access to health services such as anti-HIV treatment.
The petitioners in the case had sought to have the court decide whether the AHA violates the principle of equal protection under the law for all Ugandans.
The panel of five judges, led by Uganda’s Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera, announced: “We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety; neither would we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement.”
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Sullivan said the Biden team “continues to assess implications of the AHA on all aspects of U.S. engagement with the Government of Uganda and has taken significant actions thus far. The United States will continue to hold accountable individuals and entities that perpetrate human rights abuses in Uganda, both unilaterally and with partners around the world.”
Sullivan said the ruling “is a missed opportunity for Uganda — not only to uphold the human rights of all Ugandans, but also to reaffirm the importance of dignity, compassion, and tolerance for all. The United States remains committed to the Ugandan people and has the greatest respect for Uganda’s human rights defenders that are bravely fighting for the rights of all. We will continue to work to strengthen democratic institutions, protect human rights, and accelerate the fight against corruption, in Uganda, at home, and globally.”
Homosexuality is criminalized in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries. Some Africans reportedly see it as behavior imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.
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