HIV and the Law

via the Commission on HIV and the Law

The end of the global AIDS epidemic is within our reach. This will only be possible if science and action are accompanied by a tangible commitment to respecting human dignity and ending injustice.

Law prohibits or permits specific behaviours, and in so doing, it shapes politics, economics and society. The law can be a human good that makes a material diff erence in people’s lives. It is therefore not surprising that law has the power to bridge the gap between vulnerability and resilience to HIV.

We came together as a group of individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences and continents to examine the role of the law in effective HIV responses. What we share is our abiding commitment to public health and social justice. We have listened with humility to hundreds of accounts describing the eff ects of law on HIV. In many instances, we have been overwhelmed by how archaic, insensitive laws are violating human rights, challenging rational public health responses and eroding social fabric. At other times, we have been moved by those who demonstrate courage and conviction to protect those most vulnerable in
our societies.

Many would say that the law can be complex and challenging and is best left alone. Our experience during this Commission has shown us a very diff erent perspective. We have been encouraged by how frank and constructive dialogue on controversial issues can sometimes quickly lead to progressive law reform, the eff ective defence of legislation or better enforcement of existing laws. Even in environments where formal legal change is a slow and arduous process, we have witnessed countries taking action to strengthen access to justice and challenge stigma and discrimination.

Click here for the full report.


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Kenya's HIV Challenge: Easing Stigma For Gay Men

via NPR, by Jason Beaubien

Health officials in Kenya say reducing the transmission of HIV among gay men is a central part of their national AIDS strategy. But they face serious challenges, including the fact that homosexuality is still a crime in the East African nation.

HIV rates among gay and bisexual men in Kenya are far higher than the national average.

Mutisiya Leonard, who runs an HIV prevention, treatment and support program for men who have sex with men in northwestern Kenya, says homosexuality is so stigmatized in Africa that many men don't want to refer to themselves as gay. This makes reaching them with safe-sex messages and HIV-prevention campaigns difficult. These men are reluctant to seek medical care for sexually transmitted diseases, he says, and they don't want to get tested for HIV.

Nationwide, roughly 6 percent of adults in Kenya are infected with HIV. But the rate among men who have gay sex is more than three times the national average. Among male prostitutes in the capital, Nairobi, 41 percent are infected.

In order to address HIV in any community, health workers need to be able to get people to talk frankly and honestly about their sex lives. But Leonard says gay men in Kenya face stigma, discrimination, violence and even jail if they come out of the closet. "The fear of the law, the fear of arrest makes it difficult for people to be open about it," he says.

Read the rest.


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Joyce Banda Intends to Decriminalize Homosexuality in Malawi

via pisnews.net, by Monica Tabengwa

Jun 14 2012 (IPS) - At a news conference shortly after she was sworn in as Malawi’s president, Joyce Banda announced her government’s intention to decriminalise homosexuality. It is unclear how she will achieve this, but the move is in stark contrast to the approach of her predecessor, Bingu wa Mutharika, who openly condemned it.

In a region in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights have often been rejected in the name of traditional values, Banda’s stance is bound to attract attention. Hopefully, it will bring about some rethinking of policies that discriminate against LGBT people and often even criminalise homosexual practices.

In fact, Banda has taken a series of brave stands since she took office. Her refusal last week to host the African Union summit in July because the AU insists on having President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan there, despite his outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, is just one of them.

And amending LGBT rights is another indication of her determination to lead Malawi back onto the path of being a forward-looking democracy and a state that respects universal human rights and global bodies such as the ICC over and above parochial interests.

Banda, the former vice president, inherited a grim economic situation when she took office in April, the first woman to become a head of state in the southern African region. Soon after taking office, she announced that she intended to repeal repressive laws and policies, some of them passed under Mutharika’s rule, including the laws criminalising same-sex acts.

The repeal of these repressive laws would be good news for Malawi and for Africa. It would not only spare members of the LGBT community the fear of prosecution, but would also negate the legitimisation of violence, abuse, and discrimination based on sexual orientation.

It would also be the first time since 1994 that an African country has repealed anti-LGBT legislation, and would add renewed impetus to global efforts toward decriminalisation of same-sex conduct.

Read the rest.


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Appropriate Health Services Needed for Men Who Have Sex With Men in South Africa

via sahivsoc.org, by Rebe K, De Swardt G, Struthers H, McIntyre JA

Until fairly recently, the healthcare needs of men who have sex with men (MSM) have been under-researched and under-resourced in South Africa.1 This has occurred despite emerging local evidence confirming high rates of HIV among this most at risk or key population (MARP). Notwithstanding inclusion in the country’s previous National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS, STIs and TB (2007 – 2011), services for MSM were not scaled up nationally although impressive strides have been made in some provinces such as the Western Cape and Gauteng. Evidence shows that in settings where concentrated HIV epidemics exist among MARPS in countries with generalised heterosexual epidemics, failure to provide targeted and tailored HIV prevention and treatment programs to MARPS negatively impacts on that country’s HIV rates among the general population. 

MSM in South Africa comprise a diverse group of men who share only one behavioural commonality: they have sex with other men. 3 Many South African MSM do not identify with gay culture which may be viewed as a Eurocentric cultural construct which is often considered foreign and un-African.4 The behaviour of men having sex with men has however occurred across all cultures and all times, including South Africa, and is therefore well described in African oral histories. Colonial oppressors were largely responsible for the criminalisation of sodomy on the continent.5 Homosexual activity in South Africa therefore often remains clandestine with MSM identifying as heterosexual and dismissive of Westernised gay culture.3 This has implications for health messaging as non-gay-identifying MSM are not targeted in either mainstream heterosexual or gay media platforms and remain invisible in health settings.

MSM are at particular risk for HIV acquisition and transmission for multi-factorial reasons.6 Biologically, unprotected receptive anal sex is about sixteen times more likely to transmit HIV than unprotected vaginal sex.7 This is due to the friable nature of the rectal mucosa which does not contain mucous-producing cells as compared to the thicker, self-lubricating lining of the vagina.

The vulnerability of MSM is further increased by structural factors such as a lack of funding for MSM-appropriate services, lack of specific skills training of health providers and institutionalised stigma within the public health sector. MSM patients generally avoid being identified as MSM, culminating in their elevated risk of HIV acquisition or transmission being overlooked and no counselling about the risks associated with unprotected anal sex.

Organisations such as the Anova Health Institute, through it's innovative Health4Men project, and the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation have been active in addressing these concerns in South Africa. In 2009 the Anova Health Institute, with support from PEPFAR/USAID, launched the first state sector clinic dedicated to MSM in the country. A further six sites have subsequently become operational across multiple provinces. Invaluable lessons have been learned through this process which will undoubtedly serve as a template for ongoing expansion of such services
Read the rest.


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Sudan: New Magazine Causes Hope Amongst Gays

via GayStar News, by Dan Littauer

A new online lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender magazine in Sudan, north Africa, is a first for the country where homosexuality is still punished by death and an opportunity for gay people to start discussing their lives and hopes for the future.

Rainbow Sudan published articles discussing topics including being gay in Sudan, the history of homosexuality in the country, Islam and sexuality, being lesbian and Muslim, poetry and more.

Sudan is one of the strictest countries in the world which criminalize homosexuality. Same-sex sexual activity is illegal and, according to Article 148, capital punishment applies to a man or woman engaging in such acts.

Punishments also include lashes and imprisonment.

Even without that, being out can have serious social and economic consequences - it typically means a loss of jobs prospects, ostracisation from family and community, even murder by so called 'honour killings'.

We spoke to Rainbow Sudan editor Mohammad and other Sudanese gays and lesbians about the magazine and their life in Sudan.

Mohammad himself is a 32-year-old man, living in the capital Khartoum. He is energetic, comfortable about his sexuality, full of charm and wit. He also has a scholarly side; he loves poetry, history and sociology.

He told us that ‘to understand the gay community in Sudan you have to understand the religious factor here… it is a big taboo and regarded one of the biggest sins possible.’

Ibrahim, also 32 years old and a well-respected public figure, explained what that taboo means in practice.

‘If you are outed in Sudan the consequences are very serious: social rejection and even punishment according to the Sudanese law,' he said. 'The internet is my only life-line, I can talk with people, learn about LGBT issues and occasionally arrange to meet people. I have to be so careful, I if would be caught, exposed or worse, arrested, it would ruin me completely.’

Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Ugandan Gay Rights Activists Fight Against Anti-Homosexuality Bill

via Chicago Sun Times, by Frank Mugisha

The world listened last week as Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf defended her country’s laws that discriminate against its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex population. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper, she spoke of preserving Liberia’s “traditional values” and said in part, “We like ourselves the way we are.”

It’s a sad sentiment I hear in my own country of Uganda: the idea that homosexuality is somehow un-African and foreign to our culture, an import of the West that must be stopped. But it is not African to restrict another’s freedom. It is not African to spread lies and dissent and urge brutality against others. And it is certainly not African to deny fellow citizens basic human rights. No, these are ideas introduced and fostered by our colonizers, not by our ancestors.

My organization, Sexual Minorities Uganda, works against these forces of hate and division, and we live every day under the threats of violence that keep so many LGBTI Ugandans from coming forward. In 2010, a local newspaper published photographs and addresses of many of us under the headline “Hang Them.”

But still we work, because there is so much work to be done: gay men to be rescued from jail after arbitrary arrests and beatings. Lesbian women who need to be sheltered after curative rape assaults. Friends to be healed after being denied medical care.

The anti–gay groups call this struggle a campaign for gay rights. But there is nothing gay or straight about the right to worship, to assemble publicly or to live without fear of sanctioned brutality.

In Uganda today, bosses routinely fire employees suspected of being gay. We can be expelled from school or denied medical attention. Our friends and neighbors can be persecuted just for being seen with us.
The Ugandan Parliament is pushing a bill that is inspired by hateful ideas brought to us, not from within Africa, but by anti-gay activists like Scott Lively from the United States. The new law would equate gay people with pedophiles and call on the LGBTI population to stop “promoting homosexuality.”


The original version of the legislation even called for applying the death penalty to gay couples, and although it may be revoked from the final bill, even the more “palatable” version seeks to silence our voices, criminalize anyone who speaks on our behalf and encourage the wrongheaded stigmas that increase our nation’s rising HIV prevalence.
Read the Rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

The Effects of Criminalizing Same Sex Practices in Senegal

via PLoS ONE, by Tonia Poteat, Daouda Diouf, Fatou Maria Drame, Marieme Ndaw, Cheikh Traore, Mandeep Dhaliwal, Chris Beyrer, Stefan Baral

Abstract

 

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for HIV in Senegal, with a prevalence of 21.5%. In December 2008, nine male HIV prevention workers were imprisoned for “acts against nature” prohibited by Senegalese law. This qualitative study assessed the impact of these arrests on HIV prevention efforts. A purposive sample of MSM in six regions of Senegal was recruited by network referral. 26 in-depth interviews (IDIs) and 6 focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in July–August 2009. 14 key informants were also interviewed. All participants reported pervasive fear and hiding among MSM as a result of the December 2008 arrests and publicity. Service providers suspended HIV prevention work with MSM out of fear for their own safety. Those who continued to provide services noticed a sharp decline in MSM participation. An effective response to the HIV epidemic in Senegal should include active work to decrease enforcement of this law.

Read the full study here.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Nigeria Stifling Gay Rights

via IRIN Africa

Rights groups in Nigeria fear a same-sex marriage bill being discussed in parliament could boost already prevalent discrimination against homosexuals. The bill goes much further than banning same-sex marriage; it threatens to ban the formation of groups supporting homosexuality, with imprisonment for anyone who “witnesses, abet[s] or aids” same-gender relationships, and could lead to any discussion or activities related to gay rights being banned.

Under a colonial-era law, sodomy is punishable by a 14-year jail sentence; and in the country’s mainly Muslim northern states, where a version of Shar’ia law applies, the penalty is death by stoning, although this has never officially been carried out.

The National Assembly began debating the latest version of the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill in November. Most high-ranking officials have voiced their approval of the bill, signalling it is likely to pass.

Intolerance prevails

Analysts see the bill, which has been shelved twice in five years, as a potential boost to the popularity of a government whose approval ratings have stalled since elections in April this year. Most Nigerians strongly disapprove of homosexuality, with many seeing it as a foreign import at odds with a deeply religious society.

A 2008 survey by non-profit, Nigeria’s Information for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, of 6,000 Nigerians on their attitudes to homosexuality, found that only 1.4 percent of respondents said they felt “tolerant” towards sexual minorities.

A university student in the northern state of Jigawa was killed in 2002 when classmates set upon him after rumours that he was gay.

In September 2008, several national newspapers published the names, addresses and photographs of the pastor and congregation of a church in the port city of Lagos that ministered to sexual minorities. A few days later a mob that included policemen attacked the church. Members of the congregation lost jobs and homes and had to go into hiding; others are still harassed and threatened with physical harm, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

“Homosexual and lesbian practices are considered offensive to public morality in Nigeria. The… bill is crucial to our national development because it seeks to protect the traditional family, which is the fundamental unit of society, especially in our country,” said the influential newspaper, This Day, in its editorial on 10 November. “It will be difficult to import practices and lifestyles which are alien to our country and the majority of our people.”
Homosexual rights are narrowing across Africa. In Uganda, gay rights activist David Kato was killed in January 2011 after opposing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in 2009.

In Malawi a gay couple was imprisoned for “gross indecency”. The United States and British governments have threatened to cut off aid money to African countries seeking to curb gay rights.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

‘Confront legal and policy barriers to HIV’: Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Dialogue on HIV and the Law

Via UNAIDS.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most heavily affected by HIV, legal, policy and social barriers, including stigma, discrimination, gender inequality and the criminalization of key populations at higher risk of HIV infection, continue to make people vulnerable to HIV and hamper the ability of individuals, communities and states to respond to the epidemic. This was the conclusion of the Regional Dialogue for sub-Saharan Africa, part of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, held at the beginning of August in Pretoria, South Africa.

No taboo should be left unchallenged

A significant breakthrough came from the pledge of participants to highlight and discuss all aspects of the legal environment relating to HIV, including laws and practices related to stigma and discrimination, access to affordable treatment, children and adolescents, women’s rights and gender-based violence.

“This regional dialogue is a great opportunity for us, as Africans, to confront the difficult issues including discriminatory and punitive laws that target sex workers and men who have sex with men, and other populations vulnerable to HIV,” said Bience Gawanas, African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs.

The criminalization of drug use, sex work and same-sex sexual relations was also confronted by the participants in a bid to challenge all taboos. This is remarkable as recent punitive legal and policy developments in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa relating to the situation of members of key populations has raised concerns about the readiness of stakeholders in the region to confront this issue. Some 31 countries in the region criminalize sex work, and same-sex sexual relations constitute a criminal offence in at least 30 countries.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Criminalizing HIV Transmission Will Only Spread the Problem

Via the Vancouver Sun, by Peter McKnight.

It sounds like the synopsis of a B-movie: Thanks to the long arm of the law, the world is once again safe from The Attack of the Killer HIV-people.

Safe from Johnson Aziga, the Ontario man who had sex with more than a dozen women without informing them of his HIV-positive status. Several of the women contracted HIV, including two who subsequently died, which led to Aziga being declared a dangerous offender and handed an indeterminate sentence earlier this week.

And safe from the 17-year-old Edmonton girl who was charged this week with two counts of aggravated sexual assault after allegedly having sex with two men without informing them of her HIV-positive status. The girl had been the subject of an urgent police bulletin, which led to the worldwide publication of her name, picture and health status. Aside from painting a rather ghoulish picture of people living with HIV, such unusual cases inevitably send the message that the best way to handle HIV-non-disclosure is through the criminal law.

Police forces across the country seem to have got the message, given the increase in the number and severity of charges laid for HIV-non-disclosure in recent years. Well over 100 HIV-positive people across Canada - and at least 14 in B.C. - have now been charged with offences ranging from assault to first-degree murder.

Courts, too, have been enthusiastic in prosecuting cases of non-disclosure, with defendants receiving everything from suspended sentences to, in Aziga's case, an indeterminate and potentially lifelong sentence of imprisonment.

This enthusiasm for criminal prosecution exists despite - or perhaps because of - uncertainty about the disclosure obligations of HIV-positive people. The Supreme Court of Canada has held that individuals are under a legal duty to reveal their HIV-positive status before engaging in sex that poses a "significant risk" of HIV transmission, but what constitutes a significant risk remains unclear.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Ugandan Lawmakers okay HIV/Aids Bill

Via the Daily Monitor, by Mercy Nalugo.

Ugandan Lawmakers Wednesday resisted pressure from the human rights defenders and backed the new HIV /Aids Prevention and Control Bill that seeks to criminalise the intentional spread of HIV/Aids.

Briefing the new members on the Parliamentary HIV/Aids committee about their expectations, work plan and how far the eighth Parliament had gone with scrutinising the controversial Bill, the new committee chairperson, Ms Rosemary Najjemba Muyinda (NRM, Gomba) said most of the controversial clauses in the Bill were dropped.

“The Bill is now in its advanced stages since it was discussed by our colleagues in the eighth Parliament. So many stakeholders have been consulted and all the contentious issues were dropped. The Bill once passed into law will protect those without HIV from being infected. We have to take the Bill forward,” Ms Najjemba said.

She said the principles in the Bill were agreeable to the committee members since they are aimed at combating the intentional spread of HIV/Aids.

“For example why should someone infect the other with aids intentionally? That is a crime that should not go unpunished,” she said.

The controversial Bill that hands down a 10 year penalty in jail to individuals that knowingly infect others with the deadly aids disease has faced a lot of criticism from the human rights defenders both local and international.

They argue that the Bill violates human rights and threatens the progress the country has so far attained in fighting HIV/Aids as it legislates for mandatory testing for HIV and forced disclosure of HIV status.

Some of the human rights defenders against the Bill include Action Aid International,l Uganda Global AIDS Alliance,United States,the Global Forum on MSM & HIV United States,Global Coalition of Women against AIDS in Uganda,Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organisation (UNASO) and Uganda Young Positives among others.

Also in the Bill, Women who transmit HIV to their infants after birth through breast milk would also be subject to criminal prosecution. The activists concern is that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to determine who infected the other in courts of law hence making ignorance of one's status an effective defence.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

30 Years: The Changing Face of AIDS in the US

by Aldona Martinka

IRMA is drawing the focus to the thirtieth anniversary of HIV/AIDS with a short series on AIDS history. It will explore where we began, where we are now, and where we are going as we continue to battle this disease with hope and determination. This is part four of five.

People living with HIV and AIDS in the United States today are in a position that was completely unforeseeable to those living with the disease in the eighties. Today a positive diagnosis is far from a death sentence to most Americans, and there are daily pills one can take that will subdue the virus for decades if the routine is followed closely. People in their fifties, many of whom were diagnosed in those terrifying early years, will soon most likely make up the majority of people living with AIDS in the US. New prevention technologies have moved from condoms to a plethora of exciting possibilities such as topical microbicides and treatment as prevention. AIDS stigma, while still a problem in many instances, is so much less ignorant than what it was even 20 years ago.

As the face of AIDS in the US changes, life for those living with the disease and their loved ones has become much more bearable. But with these positive changes come a whole host of new problems that no one could have foreseen a quarter of a century ago.

The illnesses which most commonly affect AIDS patients, for instance, have shifted from the opportunistic cancers and infections which killed so many early victims, to heart conditions, neurological disorders, and other illnesses typical of the elderly. Pre-mature aging has become the more likely scenario today as patients in their fifties and above face problems most often experienced by those twenty to thirty years older than them.

Another new issue facing people with AIDS that no one could foresee thirty years ago is the criminalization of those with the virus. There are far too many instances of scared and ignorant people accusing past and current sexual partners of being criminals for having sex while being HIV positive. For an excellent account of criminalization of the HIV/AIDS community read Sean Strub’s blog post at Poz Magazine.

As we adapt to AIDS, in America and worldwide, we will have to be resourceful, understanding, and hopeful to face whatever the virus will throw our way next. As a country and a world united, we can try to end AIDS before another 30 years has passed.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Uganda Gay Death Bill May Return

via Mambaonline.com

Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill and HIV Prevention and Control Bill are likely to be carried over to the new session of parliament, despite international and local pressure.

David Bahati, the Member of Parliament who introduced the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (2009), said he fully intended to re-introduce the bill into the next session. The new parliament began on 19 May.

"The closure of this parliament is just pressing on the pause button," he said. "I'm committed to the fight against behaviour and promotion of behaviour that is going to destroy the future of our children."

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are considered by the Uganda AIDS Commission to be a "most at-risk population", but because homosexual acts are illegal, there are no policies or services targeting HIV interventions towards them. AIDS activists say the bill would only drive an already stigmatised population further underground, leaving them even more vulnerable to HIV.

MSM are often referred to as a "bridging" population for HIV to the general population, given that many also have sex with women. According to a 2010 survey of 303 MSM in the capital Kampala by the US Centres for Disease Control, 78 percent had had sex with women while 31 percent had been married.

The study also found HIV prevalence among participants was 13.7 percent, significantly higher than the city's average rate of 8.5 percent; knowledge of the risks of HIV was also low.


Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

The Caribbean: State-Sponsored Homophobia Helps Spread HIV

via Open Society, by David Scamell

A few weeks ago, civil society groups and human rights activists from across the Caribbean met with officials from UNAIDS, UNDP, and various national governments to talk about the impact that laws have on the HIV epidemic in the region. The meeting was the second regional dialogue of the UNDP Global Commission on HIV & Law, and was held in a region where a number of governments continue to use the law to persecute sexual and gender minorities.

According to the 2010 report from the International Lesbian and Gay Association, State-Sponsored Homophobia, 11 of the 13 Caribbean states criminalize sex between men. Under the continuous threat of imprisonment and police abuse, as well as discrimination from other citizens and even family members, gays and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in these countries are often driven away from the health and social services that they need. The same services, such as access to condoms and voluntary HIV testing and counseling, which are crucial in the fight against HIV.

Unsurprisingly, HIV among MSM is a relatively hidden but increasing problem for the Caribbean. In a region where the general adult HIV prevalence is second only to sub-Saharan Africa, at one percent of the population, infection among MSM is disproportionately high. For example, one in three MSM in Jamaica and one in five in Trinidad and Tobago are living with HIV.

Read the rest.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

IGLHRC Shocked at Possible Passage of Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill; Rights Protections for All Ugandans Precarious

Press Release via IGLHRC

Contacts:

Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director, IGLHRC (New York)
Tel: (347) 515 0330; Email: cjohnson@iglhrc.org

(New York, 6 May 2011) The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned at reports that the now infamous Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda may be passed by that country's Parliament. The Bill, first introduced in October 2009, was ostensibly "shelved" by Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni following an international outcry. However, public hearings on the Bill took place today in the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. The remaining stages of the legislative process – namely second and third readings of the bill and presidential adoption – could be completed within the remaining week of the current parliamentary session.

"We are shocked that after more than 2 years of engagement with the government of Uganda about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, this heinous piece of legislation may still become law," said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC Executive Director. "Governments, world religious and political leaders, and HIV prevention experts have all appealed to Ugandan parliamentarians to put their distaste and fear of LGBT people aside and use their better judgment for the good of the country."

The Bill reaffirms existing penalties for consensual same-sex relationships, and criminalizes the "promotion of homosexuality" and failure to report homosexual activity. The Parliamentary Committee itself has said that the provisions of the Bill are redundant and unnecessary. Most controversially, the Bill would punish "aggravated homosexuality" – including activity by "serial offenders" or those who are HIV positive – with the death penalty. To IGLHRC's knowledge, the provisions related to the death penalty remain part of the Bill, despite statements by the Bill's author that these would be removed. The Bill not only violates multiple protections guaranteed by the Constitution of Uganda, but also contravenes the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and other international human rights treaties to which Uganda is a party.

"There can be no reason to pass this Bill other than to take the attention of Ugandans – and the rest of the world – away from the fact that Uganda is slipping into political chaos," stated Johnson. "Clearly the issue of homosexuality is being used to deflect attention from the crackdown on democracy and freedom of speech that has led to at least 5 deaths, more than 100 injuries, and hundreds of arrests in the last month. IGLHRC stands firm with all the people of Uganda as they struggle to maintain their freedom and dignity."

See our previous work on Uganda

For more information, visit Uganda's Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law website



[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Kenya: Ongeri Warns Students On Homosexuality

Via allAfrica.com, by Henry Wanyama (reported April 19)

EDUCATION minister Sam Ongeri yesterday asked students to shun homosexuality. Ongeri said homosexuality is one vice that the ministry for education must stump out. He said: "I am not threatening anybody but you all know that homosexuality is illegal." Ongeri spoke at the Bomas of Kenya when he opened the third national students' leadership conference. The conference has attracted 1,500 student leaders from across the country who are deliberating on the theme: Education Reforms, Students Perspective.

The minister said, however, he had no clue on the extent of homosexuality but asked teachers, students and everybody in society to know one another so as to be able to fight the vice.

"Homo sexuality is unhealthy and does not add any value to your life. Those who practise are easily infected with HIV/Aids," Ongeri said. He told students that as leaders in their respective schools they should help defeat the vice and the Education ministry is ready to render support. Ongeri said the student leaders' contribution at the conference will be taken to account by the task force collecting views on how the current education system can be aligned to the new constitution.

The minister revealed that very soon the ministry will launch a management guide to extracurricular activities. He also called on students to act as a cushion to society as we approach the 2012 general elections and not to be incited by politicians.

Read the rest

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Fearing No Evil

Via Poz, by Regan Hofmann with Oriol R. Gutierrez Jr.

David Kuria works for the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya where he risks his life daily to provide safe sanctuary and advocacy for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Africa and around the world.

Now, he is running for Kenya’s Senate. A basic tenet of his work is showing that a global push for gay rights helps bolster the fight against HIV. His dream? A day when no LGBT person has to choose between being openly gay—or being killed.

In October 2009, David Bahati, a member of Uganda’s parliament, proposed an “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” (a.k.a. the “kill the gays bill”). It was an attempt to legalize a phenomenon spreading around the world: hate crimes against gay people.

Homosexuality is currently illegal in Uganda (and can result in up to a 14-year jail sentence); Bahati’s proposed bill intensifies the criminalization of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty for people who have previous convictions, are HIV positive, or engage in same-sex acts with people younger than 18. The bill also includes provisions for Ugandans who engage in same-sex relations outside the country—people can be sent back to Uganda for punishment.

Not that there are many safe places to go; laws against same-sex relations exist in nearly 80 countries. Finally, the bill outlines penalties for individuals, companies, media organizations or nongovernmental organizations that support LGBT rights. (As in, if you know your neighbor’s gay and don’t say so, you can get into huge trouble yourself.) It engenders nothing short of a witch hunt.

Read the rest

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Uganda: Closet homosexuals sink further under the radar after Kato’s death

via Daily Monitor, by John K. Abimanyi

He sits at a table with his fingers encircled around the tail of a glass filled with Smirnoff. He is at a Kampala nightspot and has dissolved into the crowd, looking just like any other reveller. What most people at the bar would not know however, is that he, plus a couple of his colleagues at the venue, is homosexual. He demands that his identity is hidden if he is to be quoted in the papers instead; he proposes a pseudonym, Alan Mukasa.

He gives off no signs that he is gay. He’s not dressed in a tight fitting pair of jeans, commonly known as skinnies, his hair is a natural un-treated neatly trimmed black, he has no studs or earrings, wears no make-up or anything that may attract undue attention to him. “It’s a security precaution one has to take,” he says. “The best way to hide is to fit in.

Read the rest.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Malawi refuses ‘homosexuality’ aid condition

via NY ASA Times

Malawi government on Wednesday took a strong stand against bilateral donors saying it cannot compromise its sovereignty to legalise homosexuality in order to get aid.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Dr George Chaponda led a team of Presidential spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba, Information and Civic Education Minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda and Gender, Women and Children Welfare  Minister Tereza Mwale in addressing a news conference in the capital Lilongwe.

During the news conference, the officials were reacting to reports that Germany government has cut aid following Malawi’s failure to repeal laws that criminalize homosexuality and its enactment of laws seen as restricting media freedom.

Ntaba: Immoral to force Malawi to be a homosexual nation just to give us aid

And the United States of America government has delayed to release $350 million grants amid concerns of new laws to curb individual freedoms in the southern African nation.

Justice Minister said although Malawi has strict laws against same sex relationships “the international community should note that since such acts occur in private and that Malawi laws on privacy are enriched in the constitution it is very difficult to prosecute homosexuality.”

“We are not ready to change the laws to satisfy donors. We have to understand that as a country you need to have certain principals for the benefit of the country,” said Chaponda.

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Uganda LGBT Activist David Kato Murdered; Human Rights Watch Calls for Investigation

 via Human Rights Watch

Excerpt:

"David Kato's death is a tragic loss to the human rights community," said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "David had faced the increased threats to Ugandan LGBT people bravely and will be sorely missed."

Witnesses told police that a man entered Kato's home in Mukono at around 1 p.m. on January 26, 2011, hit him twice in the head and departed in a vehicle. Kato died on his way to Kawolo hospital. Police told Kato's lawyer that they had the registration number of the vehicle and were looking for it.

Kato was the advocacy officer for the organization Sexual Minorities Uganda. He had been a leading voice in the fight against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which has been before Uganda's parliament since October 15, 2009. While homosexual sex is already illegal in Uganda, the proposed law would criminalize all homosexuality, making it punishable by a fine and life imprisonment. "Repeat offenders" and those who are HIV positive would be subject to the death penalty. The bill would also oblige anyone with knowledge of someone who is or might be a homosexual to report that person to the police within 24 hours.

Read the rest.

Read the post from Justice for Gay Africans Society.

Read President Obama's statement on the murder.

Read statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.




[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]