EU parliament condemns Uganda over anti-gay law

The European parliament has condemned Uganda for its tough stance on homosexuality and warned that if President Museveni signs the Bill into law, the EC should trigger human rights sanctions and economic restrictions on Uganda. Parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in February amidst widespread condemnation from the European countries and Americas.

The passing of the Bill was followed by condemnation from the US government, Western human rights organisations and other groups. The EU parliament said it has decriminalised homosexuality and urged 63 UN member states that still criminalise the act to drop criminal acts against the groups.

“The EU Parliament condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the Bill adopted on 21 March 2023 by the Ugandan Parliament, which increases sentences and widens the scope of Uganda’s legislation criminalising homosexuality and transgender identity; considers that its adoption is in stark violation of the Ugandan Constitution and Uganda’s international obligations arising from the African Charter and the UN international law architecture,”  the resolution read in part.

The EU parliament said it was alarmed by the fact that only two out of 389 legislators voted against the Bill and accused President Museveni of hateful rhetoric about LGBTIQ persons.

It also said it considers that the scapegoating of LGBTIQ people by the majority of the Ugandan political class constitutes a grave development affecting the principles of democracy, the rule of law and respect for internationally recognised human rights and considers that the promulgation of the Bill would inevitably strain relations between the EU and Uganda and would require the EU to re-orient its focus.

“Expresses its support and admiration for the Ugandan parliamentarians and civil society representatives who had the courage to stand up and publicly speak out against the Bill; Believes that the gravity of the situation warrants the strongest of institutional responses and condemnation and merits a reaction at all levels of EU diplomacy,” the resolution stated.

The EU parliament accused Uganda of homophobic rhetoric among politicians, religious leaders and other significant figures,  with ever increasing pressure being put on civil society, as well as a rise in state-sponsored anti-LGBTIQ hate speech.

Calls to Uganda

The European Parliament says it considers such laws to be in full opposition to international human rights law and in violation of the human rights of LGBTIQ persons.

The EU “Unambiguously condemns all laws, practices and official positions criminalising homosexuality and transgender identity.”

The resolution “refutes the narrative developed by some political and religious leaders that homosexuality and transgender identity are Western concepts and says “most of the laws criminalising homosexuality and transgender identity in the world have their origin in the laws of the Western colonising powers.”

The EU “deplores the dissemination of anti-LGBTIQ propaganda by any foreign actors, including those based in Europe, active in Uganda; also condemns, in this regard, the significant role played in Uganda and elsewhere by US evangelical preachers and organisations in the promotion of anti-LGBTIQ legislation and the spread of harmful disinformation.”

Call for action

The block in its resolution said homosexuality and transgender identity should be universally decriminalised.

“Should the Bill be signed into law by the Ugandan President:  calls on the Commission to consider withdrawing EBA preferences for Uganda in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 978/20121 on the basis of serious and systemic human rights violations, calls on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) to consider triggering the EU global human rights sanctions regime, as it applies squarely to the violations or abuses the Bill prescribes,” the EU parliament it its resolution states.