Uganda passes Anti-Homosexuality Act with death penalty provision for aggravated homosexuality

Members of Parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill last night, and a new provision was added at the last minute that introduced the death penalty as a punishment for aggravated homosexuality.

Originally, the punishment for aggravated homosexuality proposed by MP Asuman Basalirwa (Bugiri Municipality, Jeema) in the Bill was 10 years' imprisonment. However, the newly added provision at the last minute introduced the death penalty as the punishment for the same offense.

According to the enacted Act, aggravated homosexuality is defined as the offense of engaging in homosexual acts with a victim who is either below 14 years or above 75 years old, a person with a disability or mental illness, or in cases where the offender transmits an illness that has no scientific cure.

 Additionally, the offense is also applied if the offender is a parent, guardian, or a repeat offender.

The Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee chaired by Ms Robina Rwakoojo  that considered the Bill, stated that the reason for the changes in penalties was to align them with the provisions in the Penal Code Act that prescribe similar punishments for offenses like defilement.

Under the new law, a person convicted of attempted aggravated homosexuality faces a sentence of 14 years' imprisonment.

In general, the penalties prescribed in the final version of the legislation, which is yet to receive the President's assent to become law, are more severe than the original proposals put forward by MP Asuman Basalirwa.

The last-minute introduction of the death penalty as a punishment for aggravated homosexuality is an example of the increased severity of the penalties. Additionally, a person convicted of attempted aggravated homosexuality now faces a sentence of 14 years' imprisonment, which is also a more severe penalty than the one originally proposed.

After being notified by Parliament, the President has 60 days to either sign the Act into law or return it to Parliament with reasons for reconsideration by legislators.

 If the Act is returned, lawmakers can either re-enact it with or without amendments. If the Act is passed a third time, it will become law even if the President declines to sign it on the second enactment.

In other words, if the President rejects the Act for the second time, and Parliament passes it again, the Act will automatically come into force without the President's signature.

During his address to a special sitting of the House on March 16, President Museveni referred to homosexuals as deviants and asked Western countries not to impose their practices on other nations.

However, he also stated that his government would need to have a deeper discussion based on science to determine whether homosexuality is a result of nature or nurture.

The President's recent statement on the need for a deeper scientific discussion on the nature vs nurture debate regarding homosexuality marks a step back by about a decade.

This is because the President had previously signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was later nullified by the Constitutional Court on the basis that it was enacted without the required quorum. At the time, the President had consulted with government scientists who told him that there was no evidence of a genetic predisposition to homosexuality.