Uganda passes harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law amid international outcry
Nairobi, May 29 (EFE).- Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, has approved a controversial anti-LGBTQ+ law that includes the death penalty and longer prison sentences, the speaker of the Ugandan Parliament reported on Monday.
“His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Uganda, General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, has executed his constitutional mandate as prescribed by Article 91 (3) (a) of the Constitution. He has assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Act,” Anita Annet Among, said on Twitter.
The anti-LGBTQ+ law is one of the harshest in the world and has sparked an international outcry.
“As the Parliament of Uganda, we have answered the cries of our people,” the Speaker continued. “We have legislated to protect the sanctity of family as per Article 31 of the Constitution of Uganda.
“We have stood strong to defend our culture and aspirations of our people as per objectives 19 & 24 of national objectives and directive principles of state policy,” she added.
Among thanked Museveni for his “steadfast action in the interest of Uganda” and the lawmakers who passed the bill “for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country.”
“The people of Uganda have spoken, and it is your duty to now enforce the law in a fair, steadfast, and firm manner.,” she concluded.
Uganda’s new law includes life in prison for having gay sex and the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality, which involves having gay sex when HIV-positive or with a person under the age of 18.
Under the newly enacted law, anyone who “knowingly promotes homosexuality” can be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail.
Uganda’s new bill has sparked international outrage and has been harshly criticized by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States, as well as by human rights groups.
“This contemptuous law blatantly violates the human rights of LGBTI people in Uganda, including the right to privacy, freedom from discrimination and the right to equal protection under the law,” Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, said.
“This law will have a devastating impact on LGBTI individuals in Uganda, who already face persecution and discrimination,” she warned. EFE
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