Uganda to drop death penalty, life imprisonment for gays

Uganda will drop the death penalty and life imprisonment for gays in a refined version of an anti- gay bill expected to be ready for presentation to Parliament in two weeks, James Nsaba Buturo, the minister of ethics and integrity, said.

The draft bill, which is under consideration by a parliamentary committee, will drop the two punishments to attract the support of religious leaders who are opposed to these penalties, Buturo said today in a phone interview from the capital, Kampala.

Ugandan lawmaker David Bahati presented a private member’s bill on Oct. 14 which sought the death penalty and life imprisonment for gay people in the country. The Ugandan government supports the bill because homosexuality and lesbianism are “repugnant to the Ugandan culture,” Buturo said. Still, it favors a more refined set of punishments, he said.

In addition to formulating punishments for the gay people, the bill will also promote counseling to help “attract errant people to acceptable sexual orientation,” said Buturo.

"...(A)ttempts to export the culture wars of North America to another context represent the very worst of colonial behavior.  We deeply lament this reality, and repent of any way in which we have participated in this sin."

The joint statement by the rights groups, which include New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the bill would "criminalise the legitimate work of national and international activists and organisations working for the defence and promotion of human rights in Uganda."