Citizens petition court over criminalising attempted suicide
What you need to know:
• Worldwide, more than 700,000 people die due to suicide every year.
Concerned citizens and a local organisation have asked the Constitutional Court to nullify Section 210 of the Penal Code Act which criminalises attempted suicide reasoning that it is inconsistent with the 1995 Constitution.
The petitioners include 11-time suicide survivor Sarah Tushemereirwe; Mr Raymond Felix Odokonyero, a psychiatrist and lecturer at the College of Health Sciences at Makerere University; Mr John Mary Kimuraheebwe, a lawyer; and Mental Health Uganda, a local organisation.
Section 210 of the Penal Code Act states, “Any person who attempts to kill himself or herself commits a misdemeanour.” However, Section 22 of the same Act states, “When in this Code no punishment is specially provided for any misdemeanour, it shall be punishable with imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years.”
In the petition filed last Friday, the petitioners contend that Section 210 of the Penal Code Act contravenes Article 21 of the Constitution because it imposes criminal sanctions on people who attempt suicide on the basis of their mental disability.
Through their lawyers, the petitioners, who sued the Attorney General, state that Section 210 punishes people with psychosocial disability with criminal sanctions thereby subjecting them to torture and cruelty.
“The petitioners contend that Section 210 of the Penal Code Act contravenes Article 35 of the Constitution in as far as it disrespects the human dignity of persons with psychosocial disability and limits the realisation of their mental and physical potential,” the petition reads in part.
The petitioners further state that Section 210 deprives persons with psychosocial disabilities access to the highest attainable standard of healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation and that it seeks to unjustifiably limit the enjoyment of fundamental and other human rights and freedoms of persons with psychosocial disability.
They are seeking for the court to declare that Section 210 of the Penal Code Act is inconsistent and in contravention of the Constitution and order the release of people with psychosocial disabilities who were imprisoned or detained based on the law.
The petition seeks “An order that the respondent (Attorney General) reviews any convicted cases and ongoing prosecutions on the premise of Section 210 of the Penal Code Act and file a progress report in court within six months.”
The petitioners are also seeking an order to restrain the government and its agents from enforcing the provisions of Section 210.
The petitioners said Section 210 of the Penal Code Act also contravenes Article 8A of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy as well as Articles 2, 21, 34, 35, 43, 44, 45 and 287 of the Constitution.
Suicide
• More than 700,000 people die due to suicide every year.
• Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year-olds.
• 77 percent of global suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries.
• Ingestion of pesticide, hanging and firearms are among the most common methods of suicide globally.
Source: WHO
