We strongly condemn Uganda’s new ‘Anti-Homosexuality Act’, enacted by President Yoweri Museveni. This Act criminalises homosexuality, with the maximum penalty for homosexual acts being life imprisonment, and even imposes a death penalty for what it categorises as ‘aggravated homosexuality’.
Such legislation, which targets gay men, is a drastic breach of international human rights standards. Being gay is not a crime; it is an inherent aspect of human diversity. By treating it as a criminal act, this law places countless individuals at severe risk and promotes a culture of discrimination, intolerance, and violence.
We continue to denounce the established policies in countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, parts of Nigeria, and Yemen, that likewise criminalise homosexuality. In certain circumstances, these policies even enforce the death penalty, thereby reinforcing a global culture of hostility and violence towards gay people. These policies represent a blatant disregard for human rights and must be urgently abolished.