Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a controversial anti-gay bill, introducing draconian measures against homosexuality that have been described as among the world's harshest.
Uganda's parliament on Twitter said Museveni had approved a new draft of the legislation that had been passed overwhelmingly this month by lawmakers, who defended the measures as a protection of national culture and values.
"We have heeded the concerns our people and legislated to protect the sanctity of family," said one of the bill's strongest proponents and Uganda's speaker of parliament, Anita Among, in a statement.
"We have stood strong to defend the culture, values and aspirations of our people."
The law imposes capital punishment for some behaviour including transmitting a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex, and stipulates a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality.
Organisations found guilty of encouraging same-sex activity could face a 10-year ban.
Hon @HonBasalirwaA displays a copy of the assented to Anti-Homosexuality Act to the members of the media. pic.twitter.com/VATja6eMvv
— Parliament of Uganda (@Parliament_Ug) May 29, 2023
Modifications
The president had called on MPs to rework the bill.
The amended version said that identifying as gay would not be criminalised but "engaging in acts of homosexuality" would be an offence punishable with life imprisonment.
The earlier version also required Ugandans to report suspected homosexual activity to the police or face six months' imprisonment.
Lawmakers agreed to amend that provision after Museveni said it risked creating "conflicts in society".
Instead, the reporting requirement pertained only to suspected sexual offences against children and vulnerable people, with the penalty raised to five years in jail.
'Dark and sad day'
"The Ugandan president has today legalised state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia," said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist.
"It's a very dark and sad day for the LGBTIQ community, our allies and all of Uganda."
She and other activists have vowed a legal challenge to the law.
The United States, European Union and international human rights groups have all condemned the bill, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk appealed to Museveni not to sign it, describing it as "probably among the worst of its kind in the world."
But it enjoys broad public support in Uganda, a devout majority-Christian nation, where LGBTQI people have faced persistent discrimination in recent years, and same-sex relationships have been attacked as an import from the West.
Discussion of the bill in parliament was laced with homophobic slurs, and Museveni himself referred to gay people as "deviants".
Internationally, the law has provoked outrage.
The European Parliament voted in April to condemn the bill and asked EU states to pressure Museveni into not implementing it, warning that relations with Kampala were at stake.
The White House has also warned the Ugandan government of possible economic repercussions if the legislation takes effect.
In a joint statement on Monday, PEPFAR, the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, along with the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aaids (UNAids) said the law put Uganda's anti-HIV fight "in grave jeopardy".
(with wires)
