Ugandan parliament yet to debate bill that would jail gay people for life

Extraordinary session set to debate the bill, which in its original form would impose the death penalty Ugandan MPs will debate a bill calling for gay people to be imprisoned for life on Friday after a walkout by women MPs over an unrelated matter forced parliament’s adjournment. The controversial legislation, first put forward in 2009 , was discussed in a parliamentary committee last Friday. It was due to be debated on Wednesday but was removed from the MPs’ timetable after there was a lack of a quorum. MPs now appear set to hold an extraordinary session to debate the bill, which in its original form would impose the death penalty. If they run out of time, it could yet be reintroduced in the next parliamentary session. The bill’s author, David Bahati, has claimed a new version would not contain capital punishment, but no amended version has been released publicly. Bahati said he expected the bill to be debated and passed on Friday. John Alimadi, an MP, told the Associated Press the bill may have been dropped from the agenda because of the worldwide outcry against it. Campaigners welcomed the temporary reprieve and called for the bill to be scrapped. Frank Mugisha, the director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a gay rights group, said. “The way I saw, if the bill was debated today, it would have been passed because most MPs were in its favour,” he told the Associated Press. “We were saved by the lack of quorum.” Christopher Senyonjo , a retired Anglican bishop from Uganda, said: “We wouldn’t like this bill even to be debated. That will be dangerous because there is a lot of misinformation and excitement. Just with the bill being debated, anything can happen to LGBT people.” Gay activists say homophobia in Uganda has increased since the bill’s introduction. Last year a tabloid newspaper published the names and photos of men it alleged were gay. One cover carried the words: “Hang Them.” The bill carries harsh provisions, extending colonial-era laws that condemn anyone convicted of a homosexual act to life imprisonment. Anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality” would face seven years in prison. Landlords renting rooms or homes to homosexual people could get seven years. Online petitions from the groups Avaaz and Allout said they had gathered more than 1.4 million signatures decrying the proposals. Politicians and civil rights groups around the world have criticised the bill, with Barack Obama describing it as “odious”. • This article has been amended. The previous version stated that Uganda had dropped the bill in question. This has been corrected to indicate that it may still be debated Gay rights Uganda Africa David Smith guardian.co.uk

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