Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a law providing for the death penalty for HIV-positive LGBTQ people who have had sex. This is reported by Reuters with reference to the representative of Museveni.
Execution is provided for in cases of «homosexuality with aggravating circumstances.» These include sexual intercourse with a minor or a positive HIV test. In addition, the president introduced terms of up to 20 years in prison for cases of “LGBTQ propaganda”.
“Today, the President of Uganda legalized state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia,” said Claire Byarugaba, an LGBTQ rights activist with Chapter Four Uganda. “This is a very dark and sad day for the LGBTQ community, our allies and all of Uganda.”
MP Asuman Basalirwa, who introduced the first draft of the bill, called it the goal of “protecting traditional family values, diverse cultures and faiths.” According to him, the law is intended to protect the «values of Ugandans from actions that may contribute to sexual promiscuity in the country.»
The parliament approved the bill for the first time in March. Then the document suggested that up to 20 years in prison would threaten people who identify themselves as gay, lesbian or trans people. In addition, the document spelled out the obligation to report “homosexual activities”, now it will work only if it is about minors. These measures were ruled out after Museveni's demand to finalize the project, but the bulk of the bans remained.
Ugandan authorities have already banned LGBTQ people. In 2014, a law was passed providing for life imprisonment for «homosexual acts» and it also prohibited «propaganda». The constitutional court of the country a few months later repealed the law, justifying the decision by the fact that the parliament approved the innovations without the required number of participants. Ugandan human rights activist Frank Mugisha noted that during the period of the last law there were cases of suicide.
According to Human Rights Watch, in 2022 the ban on LGBTQ people was in force in 69 countries, 33 of them are in Africa.