Tag: anti-homosexuality bill 2009

NPR on Uganda

This morning Barbara Bradley Hagerty has a Morning Edition spot on Uganda reminding us that the Rolling Stone case may be decided this week.

In October, a tabloid called Rolling Stone — no relation to the American magazine — published an article headlined “100 Pictures of Uganda’s Top Homos Leak.” The article listed names, addresses and hangouts of gay men and lesbians.

Frank Mugisha saw his photo. Then he noticed the subhead: “Hang them.”

“I was shaken up. I was freaked out. I was scared,” says Mugisha, who heads up the group Sexual Minorities Uganda. “I’m like, hang them? What is the general Ugandan community going to do to us if the media is calling for us to be hanged?”

On Tuesday, a judge in Uganda is expected to decide whether Rolling Stone may continue to publish the names of gay men and lesbians. Gay activists say that outing them puts them in danger. For example, a couple of days after his name and photo were printed, Mugisha received a text message from a university student.

“It said, ‘We don’t like homosexuals in Uganda and you guys should be executed. We know where you live, we know who you hang out with, we know who your friends are and we shall come and deal with you as the youth of Uganda.'”

This text sounds very much like the promise of the Martin Ssempa colleague and Islamic cleric Multah Bukenya who promised youth squads to round up homosexuals.

The article also provides some of the interview Bahati gave to NPR when he was DC for the government management conference two weeks ago. As I noted on Friday, the Parliament is recessed until February. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill will likely be acted on at that time.

Uganda: Committee Chair describes Anti-Homosexuality Bill timetable

This morning I spoke with Stephen Tashobya, the chair of the Ugandan Parliament’s Legal and Affairs committee. This committee has jurisdiction over the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. I asked Hon. Tashobya if he had any current plan for action on the AHB. He told me that the Parliament was currently preoccupied with the upcoming Christmas break and then the elections. About the AHB, he said, “So I suppose I can say it will come up after elections which is the 18th of February.”

He said he did not promise that the bill would be next in line, but said

Ideally, what we are trying to do is to ensure that we clear all the bills that are before the committee before the end of this Parliament in May. I am not in a position to say we are going to handle it in this time framework, but we are trying to get out all of the bills by the end of May, including that one [the AHB].

Mr. Tashobya confirmed that if the bill is not considered during this Parliament, then a new bill would need to be tabled in the next one. He then outlined the procedure he envisioned for the bill.

What I can say is that there is special interest in that bill, both for and against and we are mindful of the interest in that bill. We are looking first of all in the context of the Parliament and the public interest, we are trying to see how we can handle it. We shall have public hearings, where all come and give their views and finally the committee report will take into account those views we are receiving from the public.

Mr. Tashobya said that the committee report would be presented then to the Parliament as a whole and discussed prior to a second and third reading. Often the required second and third reading occurs on the same day, followed by the vote, also on that same day. If passed, the bill is sent on to President Museveni. At that point, Museveni could do nothing and allow the bill to become law or he could send it back to Parliament if there were elements he did not like. However, according to Mr. Tashobya, that would be “unusual” saying, “In the life of this Parliament, he has not sent a bill back.”

For opponents of the AHB, it appears that the public opportunity to speak out will be in a relatively short window in the public hearings convened by the Legal and Parliamentary Committee sometime between late February and early May.

Uganda Monitor covers the Bahati trip to DC; is visa valid? UPDATED

UPDATE: Bahati is a no-show at the ICGFM conference. ICGFM spokeman Doug Hadden told me that some delegates from Uganda are attending but Mr. Bahati has apparently not made an attempt to enter.

12/7/10 – Mr. Bahati emailed me this morning to say he is in DC. I know he is doing some media as well.

Interesting claim that Bahati’s visa is specifically for the event he now cannot attend. What happens when he is unable to enter? Bahati commented on the situation:

“I know US as a defender of democracy in the world and can differentiate between the efforts of a legislator in a democratic parliament from acts of dictatorship,” he [Bahati] said. Unlike other MPs, the American mission in Kampala gave him a single-entry visa specifically for the event.

Mr Bahati and five other MPs are scheduled to attend a financial management conference of practitioners in the US starting tomorrow. The gays also want to demonstrate at the venue of the meeting to show their distaste of the Bill and Mr Bahati. But Mr Bahati said he would continue with his trip.

David Bahati: No action on Anti-Homosexuality Bill until after 2011 elections

I spoke to Ugandan MP David Bahati this morning who told me that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill will not be considered by Uganda’s Parliament until after the February 18, 2011 elections.

When I spoke with Bahati on November 16, he was hopeful that the Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Committee would consider the bill before the recess last week. But today, Bahati said that due to the upcoming elections no significant legislative work is anticipated. He continues to believe that the bill will be considered and debated in Parliament after the elections.

Mr. Bahati said that the delay should not be taken as a sign of lack of support by the committee chair or his peers in the Ugandan Parliament. Just yesterday, Bahati told journalist Jeff Sharlet the same message, adding that the elections were the main focus in Uganda right now. 

In addition to campaigning for re-election during the recess, Mr. Bahati plans to travel to the United States next week with a group of MPs to attend the 2010 Winter Conference of the  International Consortium of Governmental Financial Management. The conference will be held in Washington DC from Dec. 6-8.

UPDATE: Adding some confirmation to Mr. Bahati’s forecast regarding his bill is this motion regarding conduct during elections which was referred to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee – the same committee which has the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The code of conduct resolution will need to be acted on quickly and that will go before anything else.

Uganda’s Rolling Stone editor pledges to publish more photos

According to Rolling Stone editor, Giles Muhame, the lawyer for the paper has cleared them to publish more pictures of gays.

An extraordinary meeting of Rolling Stone editors held last night resolved to publish dozens of photos of top lesbian couples in the country. “Since the judge did not post pone the interim order secured earlier by a host of homos, you can now expose them,” our lawyer said, as our editors smiled. Guys, prepare for another round of sensational optical nutrition…

Apparently, the Rolling Stone camp is taking this two week period between the hearing and the ruling as an opportunity to continue their campaign. Attorneys for the GLBT groups might need to get a restraining order soon to prevent more outings.