The European Parliament has condemned the planned introduction of a law to intensify the persecution of sexual minorities in Uganda. The deputies passed a corresponding resolution. Should President Yoweri Museveni put the law into effect, relations with the EU would be in jeopardy. Museveni contributed to the hateful rhetoric against queer people, the resolution criticized.
In March, the Ugandan parliament passed a new law that provides for severe penalties, up to the death penalty, for same-sex relationships. Knowing about it without reporting it to the authorities and helping lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people can also be punished.
It still has to be signed by President Yoweri Museveni before it can come into force. The project was sharply criticized internationally, including by UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk. A law from the British colonial era is currently in force in Uganda, which criminalizes sexual acts by people of the same sex and allows a punishment of up to 14 years in prison.
MPs are concerned about the impact of the law given the increasing criminalization of sexual minorities in some African countries such as Ghana, Niger and Kenya, it said. In the resolution, the parliamentarians write of “global anti-gender and anti-LGBTQ movements”. This would be fueled by political and religious leaders around the world, including from the EU. In this context, MEPs named Hungary, Poland and Italy. (epd)
