What now for Uganda's anti-gay death penalty bill?

Uganda’s anti-gay bill has been in the offing for some time but the Ugandan Parliament adjourned last month without passing it. 

 On 13th May the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, in response to intense global pressure, blocked the bill from coming to a vote in the emergency session. At the close of parliament the bill was then wiped from the books, to be resubmitted at the opening of next session. Human rights activists have hailed this as a victory and Parliamentary spokespersons have said that, while the bill will most likely come back for debate in the next session, it could take as long as 18 months to get back to the floor.

This delay was primarily due to a lack of presidential support from President Yoweri Museveni and the significant criticism it came under from international actors and human rights groups, alike. The US State Department openly described it as ‘odious’ and condemned its passing in any form. William Hague tweeted the following: ‘We oppose this Bill and will continue to raise our concerns with Ugandan Government. We urge Ugandan MPs to reject it […] Our embassy is lobbying Ugandan gov and the UK initiated a formal EU demarche to the Ugandan foreign minister on the bill.’

The bill was introduced in October 2009 in order to quell the spread of AIDs throughout the country with supporters saying that, ‘The parliament should be given the opportunity to discuss and pass the bill, because homosexuality is killing our society’.

In its current form the bill mandates the death penalty for acts of ‘aggressive homosexuality’ which includes rape of a minor by a person of the same sex, or where one partner carries the virus that can cause Aids. The bill will also criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and would penalise an individual who knowingly rents property to a homosexual.

Alice Jay, campaign director of Avaaz, an international organisation campaigning for human rights issues around the world, said: ‘The news that the brutal anti-gay law won’t be discussed in Parliament today is a victory for all Ugandans and people across the world who value human rights. This vile bill is a matter of life and death for gay Ugandans, and would have seen the execution, imprisonment and persecution of friends of Avaaz, and thousands of others who have committed no crime at all. We must now ensure this heinous bill can never return to parliament again’.

A retired Ugandan Anglican Bishop, Christopher Senyonjo, observed that, ‘The pressure from people around the world has had a big impact and the resulting influence from the international community has played a very important role in stopping this going forward.’

The postponement of the bill has reassured many. Michelle Kagari from Amnesty International, Africa recently said it was, ‘Deeply alarming that the Ugandan parliament is again considering this appalling bill, which flies in the face of human decency and violates international human rights law’.

And Greame Reid of Human Rights Watch noted that, ‘Not only would the bill institutionalise discrimination against those who are, or who are thought to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, if this bill is passed, it could be interpreted as an official incitement to commit violence against LGBT people’.

As to whether it will realistically be reintroduced, there has been some discussion on this front. The bill’s author, David Bahati, said that the death penalty had been removed from the bill in the committee report, it will be submitted in this form at the next parliamentary session. Opposition to the bill in any form, both locally and internationally, remains strong, nonetheless.