The law, criticized by the UN and countries like the United States, was approved on March 21 in Parliament. The legislators defended the norm affirming that these measures protect the national culture and its values.
The promulgation stoked the fears unleashed in the first readings, during which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, described the text as “discriminatory”.
The High Commissioner expressed his “dismay” on Monday at the promulgation of this “draconian” legislation, further stating that “it is contrary to the Constitution and international treaties” and opens the way for “systematic violations of the rights of LGBT people “.
At the end of April, President Museveni asked parliamentarians to re-examine the text, urging them to specify that “being homosexual” is not a crime, but that relationships between people of the same gender are criminalized.
The amendment clarified that sexual orientation will not be a crime, but “acts”, which can be punished, even with life imprisonment.
Despite the fact that Museveni advised legislators to eliminate a provision that penalizes “aggravated homosexuality”, the parliamentarians maintained this article, which implies that repeat offenders can even be sentenced to death.
Homosexuality has been criminalized in Uganda since the laws that governed during colonization, but since independence in 1962 there has never been a conviction for consensual sexual acts between people of the same gender.
The legislation enjoys broad public support in Uganda, a largely Christian country.where people are very religious and the LGBT community suffers a lot of discrimination.