LAST UPDATE | 29 May 2023
TÁNAISTE AND FOREIGN Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has said Ireland “condemns” Uganda’s draconian new law against homosexuality.
“Ireland condemns new laws in Uganda that threaten LGBTI+ people with punishments, including the death penalty,” Martin tweeted this evening.
“This is contrary to Uganda’s international obligations,” he said.
“Ireland will continue to defend human rights, including LGBTI+ rights, as a priority on the international stage.”
Ireland condemns new laws in Uganda that threaten LGBTI+ people with punishments, including the death penalty.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) May 29, 2023
This is contrary to Uganda’s international obligations. Ireland will continue to defend human rights, including LGBTI+ rights, as a priority on the international stage.
The version of the Bill signed by President Yoweri Museveni does not criminalise those who identify as LGBTQ, a key concern for campaigners who condemned an earlier draft of the legislation as an egregious attack on human rights.
However, the new law still prescribes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”, which is defined as cases of sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as with minors and other categories of vulnerable people.
A suspect convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years, according to the legislation.
Museveni “assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2023. It now becomes the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023,” a statement posted on the presidency’s official Twitter account said, accompanied by an image of the veteran leader signing a document.
𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗶 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝘁,𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯
— Government of Uganda (@GovUganda) May 29, 2023
General @KagutaMuseveni , has executed his Constitutional mandate and assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023. pic.twitter.com/PH8IUegBp3
MPs had vowed to resist outside pressure over the bill, which they cast as interference in an effort to protect Uganda’s national culture and values from Western immorality.
Parliamentary Speaker Anita Among said in a statement that the president had “answered the cries of our people” in signing the Bill.
“With a lot of humility, I thank my colleagues the Members of Parliament for withstanding all the pressure from bullies and doomsday conspiracy theorists in the interest of our country,” the statement said.
Museveni had returned the Bill to the national assembly in April, asking for changes that would differentiate between identifying as LGBTQ and actually engaging in homosexual acts.
That angered some legislators, including some who feared the president would proceed to veto the Bill amid international pressure. Parliament passed an amended version of the Bill earlier in May.
Homosexuality was already illegal in Uganda under a colonial-era law criminalising sexual activity “against the order of nature”.
The punishment for that offence is life imprisonment.
US President Joe Biden has the new law and threatened to cut aid and investment in the east African country.
He called for the immediate repeal of the tough new measures.
“The enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is a tragic violation of universal human rights,” Biden said in a statement.
“No one should have to live in constant fear for their life or being subjected to violence and discrimination,” Biden said. “It is wrong.”
Biden said he had asked his National Security Council to assess what the law means for “all aspects of US engagement with Uganda,” including services providing AIDS relief, and other assistance and investments.
He said the administration would also consider slapping sanctions on Uganda and restricting the entry into the United States of people engaging in human rights abuses or corruption there.
The leaders of the UN Aids programme, the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and the Global Fund said in a joint statement they “are deeply concerned about the harmful impact” of the legislation on public health and the HIV response.
“Uganda’s progress on its HIV response is now in grave jeopardy,” the statement said.
“The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 will obstruct health education and the outreach that can help end Aids as a public health threat.”
That statement noted that “stigma and discrimination associated with the passage of the Act has already led to reduced access to prevention as well as treatment services” for LGBTQ people.
Homosexuality is criminalised in more than 30 of Africa’s 54 countries, but there has never been a conviction for consensual same-sex activity since Uganda’s independence from Britain in 1962.
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