Ugandan court upholds anti-LGBTQ law but says some rights infringed

UGANDA’S Constitutional Court refused on Wednesday to annul or suspend an anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) law that includes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts, but voided some provisions that it said were inconsistent with certain fundamental human rights.

The legislation, adopted in May last year, is among the world’s harshest anti-gay laws and has drawn condemnation from rights campaigners and sanctions from Western nations.

Activists say the law has unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBTQ people, including torture, rape, arrest and eviction.

“We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” said lead judge Richard Buteera, reading the judgment on behalf of his four colleagues.

However, the court struck down certain sections it said were “inconsistent with right to health, privacy and freedom of religion”.

The portions of the Act that were voided had criminalised the letting of premises for use for homosexual acts and failure to report homosexual acts.

Under the Anti-Homosexuality Act, citizens had an obligation to report anyone they suspected of engaging in homosexuality. This requirement violated individual rights, the court found.

The government will now have to remove these sections from the law, Edward Ssemambo, a human rights lawyer representing the petitioners, told Reuters.

When the law was enacted in May 2023 the World Bank halted new lending to Uganda, and the United States announced visa and travel restrictions against Ugandan officials.

The legislation imposes penalties of up to life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations and contains provisions that make “aggravated homosexuality” an offence punishable by death.

It also bans promotion of homosexuality and violations are punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

Petitioners against the law include a lawmaker and Frank Mugisha, Uganda’s most prominent LGBTQ activist. They asked judges to strike the law down, saying it violated their constitutional rights.

“The judges are supposed to ... protect vulnerable groups, but they have rather sided with majority Ugandans to punish minority groups,” Mugisha told Reuters.

The petitioners will appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court, he said.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called the court's decision “a small and insufficient step towards safeguarding human rights” and vowed to continue to advance respect for human rights in Uganda and elsewhere.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the remaining provisions, which undermine public health, human rights and Uganda’s international reputation,” Jean Pierre, the first openly gay White House Press secretary, told a news briefing. —