Jim Burroway, of Box Turtle Bulletin, has passed along an alert and request from The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission asking anyone concerned with GLBT and human rights to contact the Ugandan authorities and express their concern that the country is poised to criminalize homosexuality and institute the death penalty under certain circumstances — cases involving an HIV-positive individual would be considered “aggravated homosexuality,” and repeat offenders could potentially be executed.
The new law would:
- Reaffirm the lifetime sentence currently provided upon conviction of homosexuality, and extends the definition from sexual activity to merely “touch[ing] another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.”
- Create a new category of “aggravated homosexuality” which provides for the death penalty for “repeat offenders” and for cases where the individual is HIV-positive.
- Criminalizes all speech and peaceful assembly for those who advocate on behalf of LGBT citizens in Uganda with fines and imprisonment of between five and seven years.
- Criminalizes the act of obtaining a same-sex marriage abroad with lifetime imprisonment.
- Adds a clause which forces friends or family members to report LGBT persons to police within 24-hours of learning about that individual’s homosexuality or face fines or imprisonment of up to three years.
- Adds an extra-territorial and extradition provisions, allowing Uganda to prosecute LGBT Ugandans living abroad.
This story began earlier this year when the situation in Uganda was aggravated by American evangelicals connected to anti-GLBT hate groups and ex-gay organizations descending on the African nation. Box Turtle Bulletin and several blogs and new sources have stayed on top of this tragic situation as it has unfolded. Click on the link for BTB’s extensive background.
