Uganda: “My hope is that Museveni does not let anti-gay law pass “, says Bonino

The Ugandan parliament’s passage of an anti-homosexuality law that envisages stiff sentences of up to life in prison, is a very serious act. The struggle against paedophilia and pedo-pornography is, in this case, simply an excuse for enacting laws that are homophobic, retaliatory and contrary to the numerous international conventions that prohibit criminal prosecution on the basis of sexual orientation, and of which Uganda is a signatory. I am referring, for instance, to the 1966 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and to the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. It is my hope that President Museveni does not allow the passage of such a vindictive and reactionary law, which would be no less than an attack on the cardinal principles of every civil society, principles such as tolerance and non-discrimination”.