Uganda court hears challenge to harsh anti-gay law
Uganda’s constitutional court on Monday began hearing the first challenge to a draconian anti-gay law that has triggered criticism from the United Nations and led to US visa restrictions on government officials.
In May, the East African nation adopted one of the world’s harshest laws against homosexuality, prompting an uproar from rights advocates and Western powers.
US President Joe Biden threatened to cut aid and investment to Kampala.
But President Yoweri Museveni’s government has struck a defiant tone, with officials accusing the West of trying to pressure Africa into accepting homosexuality.
Nicholas Opiyo, the lawyer representing the petitioners, told the court in Kampala they had filed written submissions challenging the law.
Uganda’s deputy chief justice, Richard Buteera, head of the five-judge panel, said the court would pass its judgement on the submissions at a later time. No date has been set for the ruling.
The petitioners include several human rights activists, two law professors from Makerere University in Kampala and two legislators from Museveni’s National Resistance Movement party.
The legislation contains provisions making “aggravated homosexuality” a capital offence and imposes penalties for consensual same-sex relations of up to life in prison.
The petitioners say the law violates fundamental rights guaranteed by Uganda’s constitution, including freedom from discrimination and the right to privacy.
They also say the law contravenes Uganda’s commitments under international human rights law, including the United Nations convention against torture.
The court will also determine whether the law was passed after sufficient consultation with Ugandan citizens, as required by the constitution.
– ‘Coerce us’ –
Washington this month imposed visa bans on unnamed officials deemed responsible for “undermining the democratic process” in Uganda and abusing human rights, including those of the LGBTQ community.
The United States has also announced plans to remove the country from the African Growth and Opportunity Act(AGOA) trade pact from January 2024.
The US, European Union and UN secretary general Antonio Guterres have all condemned the legislation, warning that foreign aid and investment for Uganda could be jeopardised unless the law is repealed.
But the legislation enjoys broad support in the conservative country, where lawmakers have defended the measures as a necessary bulwark against Western immorality.
Ugandan state minister for foreign affairs Henry Okello Oryem told AFP earlier this month that the West was seeking “to coerce us into accepting same-sex relationships using aid and loans”.
The World Bank announced in August it was suspending new loans to Uganda over the law, which “fundamentally contradicts” the values espoused by the US-based lender.
In 2014, international donors slashed aid to Uganda after Museveni approved a bill that sought to impose life imprisonment for homosexual relations. It was later overturned.
