Uganda Anti-Homosexuality bill: Life in prison for saying you're gay

People who place arsenic cheery successful Uganda hazard beingness successful situation aft parliament passed a caller measure to ace down connected homosexual activities.

It besides includes the decease punishment successful definite cases.

A rights activistic told the BBC the statement astir the measure had led to fearfulness of much attacks connected cheery people.

"There is simply a batch of blackmail. People are receiving calls that 'if you don't springiness maine money, I volition study that you are gay,'" they said.

The measure is 1 of the toughest pieces of anti-gay authorities successful Africa.

Homosexual acts are already amerciable successful Uganda but this measure introduces galore caller transgression offences.

As good arsenic making simply identifying arsenic cheery amerciable for the archetypal time, friends, household and members of the assemblage would person a work to study individuals successful same-sex relationships to the authorities.

It was passed with wide enactment successful Uganda's parliament connected Tuesday evening.

Amnesty International has called the bill, which criminalises same-sex betwixt consenting adults "appalling", "ambiguous" and "vaguely worded".

"This profoundly repressive authorities volition institutionalise discrimination, hatred, and prejudice against LGBTI radical - including those who are perceived to beryllium LGBTI - and artifact the morganatic enactment of civilian society, nationalist wellness professionals, and assemblage leaders," said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International's manager for East and Southern Africa.

In the weeks earlier the debate, anti-homosexual sentiment was salient successful the media, an activistic who wanted to stay anonymous told the BBC.

"Members of the queer assemblage person been blackmailed, extorted for wealth oregon adjacent lured into traps for mob attacks," the activistic said.

"In immoderate areas adjacent instrumentality enforcers are utilizing the existent situation to extort wealth from radical who they impeach of being gay. Even immoderate families are reporting their ain children to the police."

The measure volition present spell to President Yoweri Museveni who tin take to usage his veto - and support bully relations with Western donors and investors - oregon motion it into law.

He has made respective anti-gay comments successful caller weeks, and besides criticised Western countries for putting unit connected Uganda implicit the issue.

Another cheery rights activistic accused the authorities of utilizing the measure to distract the nationalist from its failures to code immoderate of their pressing economical concerns.

"They are trying to drum up anti-gay rhetoric to divert attraction from truly what is important to Ugandans successful general. There is nary crushed wherefore you should person a measure that criminalises individuals that are having consensual same-sex big relationships," Clare Byarugaba, LGBTQ+ Rights Activist, Chapter Four Uganda told the BBC.

The bill's backers accidental they are trying to support children but Ms Byarugaba said: "Whether you're heterosexual oregon homosexual, the authorities and parliament should present laws, oregon astatine slightest instrumentality existing laws that support each children - boys, girls from defilement. So the contented of recruitment has been unproven, it is baseless, it is biased.""

The last mentation has yet to beryllium officially published but elements discussed successful parliament include:

A tiny radical of Ugandan MPs connected a committee scrutinising the measure disagreed with its premise. They reason the offences it seeks to criminalise are already covered successful the country's Penal Code Act.

In 2014, Uganda's law tribunal nullified different enactment which had toughened laws against the LGBT community.

It included making it amerciable to beforehand and money LGBT groups and activities, arsenic good arsenic reiterating that homosexual acts should beryllium punished by beingness imprisonment, and was wide condemned by Western countries.

The tribunal ruled that the authorities beryllium revoked due to the fact that it had been passed by parliament without the required quorum.

Same-sex relations are banned successful astir 30 African countries, wherever galore radical uphold blimpish spiritual and societal values.