By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

GENEVA, Switzerland – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay denounced Uganda’s proposed anti-homosexuality legislation calling it “draconian.”  She said it is in violation of international human rights standards and called on the country to shelve it.

The proposed anti-homosexuality legislation would impose the death penalty or life imprisonment on some gay and lesbian people for some homosexual acts.  Some examples of violations would include cases of rape of a minor of the same sex, or where one partner carried the AIDS virus.  Public discussion of homosexuality or renting property to a homosexual would also be criminalized.

“The bill proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered – namely life imprisonment, or in some cases, the death penalty,” said Pillay.  “To criminalize people on the basis of color or gender is now unthinkable in most countries.  The same should apply to an individual’s sexual orientation.”

In order to understand the bill’s introduction in Uganda it is first necessary to understand the story of King Mwanga.  In 1886, King Mwanga ordered male pages to have sex with him.  They died as martyrs when they refused based on their Christian faith and were ordered to be burned at the stake.

Playing on Ugandans’ fears, Scott Lively, an American evangelical, addressed the Ugandan Parliament.

“Male homosexuality has historically been, not adult to adult; it’s been adult to teenager,” says Lively.  “It’s called pederasty – adults sodomizing teenage boys.”

A few months later this bill was introduced.

This bill is set to come before the Ugandan Parliament sometime in January.  It could be as early as next week.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and other high ranking government officials have suggested that they might intervene to keep this bill from becoming law, a move that Pillay welcomes.

According to Rupert Colville, the High Commissioner’s spokesman, Pillay believes that the bill’s passage could have an extremely negative impact for homosexual individuals, depriving them of a range of fundamental human rights.

“It is extraordinary to find legislation like this being proposed more than 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … made it clear this type of discrimination is unacceptable,” Pillay said.

She also warned that passage of this bill could harm Uganda’s reputation in the international community.

For more information, please see:

AFP – UN Urges Uganda to Scrap Anti-Gay Bill – 15 January 2010

Guardian – UN’s Human Rights Chief Urges Uganda to Scrap Anti-Gay Legislation – 15 January 2010

Jurist – UN Rights Chief Criticizes Proposed Uganda Legislation Against Homosexuality – 15 January 2010

NPR – U.S. Exports Cultural War to Uganda – 15 January 2010

UN News Centre – Top UN Rights Official Urges Uganda to Do Away with ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill’ – 15 January 2010

VOA – UN Rights Chief Denounces Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill – 15 January 2010