Uganda adopts draconian anti-gay bill 
 
 By Grace Matsiko (AFP) – Dec 20, 2013 
 
 Kampala — Uganda's parliament on Friday adopted an anti-homosexuality bill that will see repeat offenders jailed for life, with lawmakers hailing it as a victory against "evil". 
 
 Deputies voted overwhelmingly in favour of the text, which has been widely condemned by rights activists and world leaders -- with US President Barack Obama describing it as "odious" and Nobel Peace laureate archbishop Desmond Tutu comparing it to apartheid. 
 
 The lawmaker behind the bill, David Bahati, said a death penalty clause was dropped from the final version of the bill. The approved text must now be given the green light by President Yoweri Museveni, himself a devout evangelical Christian. 
 
 "This is a victory for Uganda. I am glad the parliament has voted against evil," Bahati told AFP. 
 
 "Because we are a God-fearing nation, we value life in a holistic way. It is because of those values that members of parliament passed this bill regardless of what the outside world thinks," he said. 
 
 First proposed in 2009, the bill had been shelved following international condemnation, but parliamentary spokeswoman Hellen Kaweesa said the changes meant that it had secured "majority support" among MPs. 
 
 "Now anybody found practising, recruiting for or publicising homosexuality commits a felony," said Simon Lokodo, Uganda's Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity. 
 
 He added that the law provided for punishments of between two years and life behind bars. 
 
 An early version of the bill would have introduced the death sentence for anyone caught engaging in homosexual acts for a second time, as well as for gay sex where one partner is a minor or has HIV. 
 
 "We think this is an achievement for Uganda because the minors will be protected and the innocents will be saved from abuse and molestation," Lokodo said. 
 
 "We will get hold of all those encouraging others to become homosexuals or lesbians. Anybody we find recruiting or using materials to promote homosexuality, we will arrest." 
 
 Homophobia is widespread in Uganda, where American-style evangelical Christianity is on the rise. Gay men and women in the country face frequent harassment and threats of violence, and rights activists have also reported cases of lesbians being subjected to "corrective" rapes. 
 
 In 2011, prominent Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato was bludgeoned to death at his home after a newspaper splashed photos, names and addresses of gays in Uganda on the front page along with a yellow banner reading "Hang Them". 
 
 Anti-pornography bill 
 
 While homosexuality was already illegal, the new bill stiffens penalties and also criminalises the public promotion of homosexuality -- including discussions by rights groups. 
 
 After the vote, Ugandan gay activist Frank Mugisha declared himself "officially illegal" and also "outraged and disappointed". 
 
 "This is a truly terrifying day for human rights in Uganda," he said. "It will open a new era of fear and persecution. If this law is signed by President Museveni, I'd be thrown in jail for life and in all likelihood killed. 
 
 "We urgently need world leaders to call on President Museveni and demand he stops this bill of hate from becoming law." 
 
 Leslie Lefkow of Human Rights Watch said the law was "abhorrent". 
 
 "The bill?s provision on the criminalisation of 'promotion' is a direct attack on the legitimate work of national and international activists and organisations working to defend and promote human rights in Uganda," HRW added in a statement. 
 
 Amnesty International said the "wildly discriminatory legislation" was "a grave assault on human rights". 
 
 One Ugandan MP, Fox Odoi, was also critical. 
 
 "Fundamentally there is the human rights issue. It's a bad law and it doesn't serve any useful purpose," he said. 
 
 "If a man has sex with a woman and penetrates her anus, there's supposed to be nothing wrong with that. How can you apply two different standards to what is much the same thing? I can't quite understand that." 
 
 The vote also comes a day after the Ugandan parliament passed an anti-pornography and dress-code law that bans anything that is deemed sexually suggestive. 
 
 "Anybody that dresses in very short skirt or a very opened shirt that allows people to see the breast, anybody that dresses in a way that we can see the buttocks, is condemned by this law," Lokodo said. 
 
 It also outlaws "any erotic behaviour intended to cause sexual excitement or any indecent act or behaviour tending to corrupt morals". 
 
 In 2008, former ethics and integrity minister James Nsaba Buturo tried to pass similar legislation claiming a woman wearing provocative clothing risked causing traffic accidents by distracting drivers. 
 
 President Museveni caused an uproar in 2012 when he told female school students to "keep a padlock on your private parts until the time comes to open them when you have a husband." 
 
 In addition to outlawing "provocative" clothing, the anti-pornography bill will result in scantily dressed performers being banned from Ugandan television. It will also closely monitor what individuals watch on the Internet. 
 
 A British man, Bernard Randall, is currently facing trial in Uganda and a possible two-year sentence if convicted for "trafficking obscene publications" after police found pictures of him having gay sex. 
 
 Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved. More » ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Gay rights campaigner Claire Byarugaba: "We would rather stay and fight but we know that people in power are way too powerful" 
 
 Uganda's parliament has passed a bill to toughen the punishment for homosexual acts to include life imprisonment in some cases. 
 
 The anti-homosexuality bill also makes it a crime punishable by a prison sentence not to report gay people. 
 
 The prime minister opposed the vote, saying not enough MPs were present. 
 
 The bill has been condemned by world leaders since it was mooted in 2009 - US President Barack Obama called it "odious". 
 
 I am glad the parliament has voted against evil David Bahati, MP 
 
 The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in Kampala says the government knows there will be an international outcry, which could see some countries suspend aid to the country. 
 
 She says that Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi might follow up on his complaints about a lack of quorum, while it remains to be seen whether President Yoweri Museveni will sign the bill into law. 
 
 The private member's bill originally proposed the death penalty for some offences, such as if a minor was involved or the perpetrator was HIV-positive, but this has been replaced with life in prison. 
 
 Miniskirt ban 
 
 The MP behind the bill, David Bahati, told the AFP news agency: "This is victory for Uganda. I am glad the parliament has voted against evil." 
 
 Analysis The introduction of this bill led Uganda to be called the worst place to be gay. As parliament debated it, gay activists met in a suburb of the capital Kampala to work out their own plan. They say their lives are often in threat here because of intolerance. First tabled in parliament back in 2009, the proposed law caused such an international backlash that it has languished in parliamentary bureaucracy up until now. It originally proposed a death sentence for certain homosexual acts but this was scrapped and punishment limited to life imprisonment. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has been instrumental in giving the bill a new lease of life. Last year she promised it as a "Christmas gift" to the country. The challenge is enforcement. Authorities need to be able to gather evidence that shows someone has engaged in homosexuality. This is hard to prove and one of the reasons Uganda's current anti-gay legislation has been rarely enforced. But once enacted the bill might give law enforcers extra motivation to tackle "homosexual crimes". This could lead to more arrests and intrusive medical exams. 
 
 "Because we are a God-fearing nation, we value life in a holistic way. It is because of those values that members of parliament passed this bill regardless of what the outside world thinks," he said. 
 
 The bill also bans the promotion of homosexuality. 
 
 "I am officially illegal," Ugandan gay activist Frank Mugisha said after the vote. 
 
 The bill's supporters say it is needed to protect traditional family values, which they say are under attack from Western-inspired gay rights groups. 
 
 Its critics say the bill has been pushed by some US evangelical Christians. 
 
 Uganda is a socially conservative country and on Thursday passed an Anti-Pornography Bill, which bans miniskirts and sexually suggestive material such as some music videos. 
 
 Human rights activists say the bill highlights the intolerance and discrimination the gay community faces in Uganda. 
 
 One gay activist was killed in 2011, although the police denied he was targeted because of his sexuality. 
 
 Meanwhile a local newspaper has been condemned for publishing the names and addresses of people it said were gay. 
 
 Image caption Briton Bernard Randall is facing prosecution in Uganda 
 
 Holidaymakers and visiting foreigners are not immune from prosecution under Uganda's existing anti-homosexuality laws. 
 
 A retired British man is awaiting trial in Entebbe on charges of possessing a gay sex video after thieves found images on his laptop. 
 
 Sixty-five-year-old Bernard Randall, from Kent, faces a possible two-year prison sentence if found guilty. 
 
 His friend Albert Cheptoyek, a Ugandan national with whom he shares a house, has denied a more serious charge of carrying out "acts of gross indecency", which could see him jailed for up to seven years if found guilty.
– Ugandan lawmakers today overwhelmingly approved what would be one of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world. Homosexual acts were already illegal in Uganda, but now anyone caught committing this crime twice will be imprisoned for life, the AFP reports. The first draft of the law called for the death penalty in such cases, but it was shelved for years amidst international outrage. The bill also makes not reporting homosexuals a crime you could go to jail for, the BBC reports. It essentially outlaws gay rights groups as well, making it illegal to promote homosexuality. (Though many groups were already specifically banned.) The bill passed despite opposition from the prime minister, who said not enough lawmakers were present. "This is a victory for Uganda," the lawmaker behind the bill said. "I am glad the parliament has voted against evil." Activists are naturally despairing. "I am officially illegal," one said following the vote. The bill still needs to be signed by President Yoweri Museveni.