Wednesday, December 9, 2009

HIV as a death sentence, literally.

Everybody knows that a diagnosis with HIV is not the death sentence it used to be years ago, due to many improvements in anti-retroviral drugs and the emergence of new therapies.

However, some politicians in Uganda are trying to change that, literally.

Lawmakers in Uganda are trying to pass a new anti-homosexuality bill that would make it even more difficult for someone to be gay in that country. Mind you, homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but the new bill will introduce even tougher penalties for being gay/engaging in homosexual acts.

The bill has a lot of disturbing penalties and clauses in it. The most disturbing however is the clause in the bill that allows the state to execute anyone who tests positive for HIV. Yes, you read that right. People who test positive for the virus that causes AIDS can be put to death.

Other oddities of the bill include a measure that will allow prosecution of gays that have engaged in homosexual acts outside of Uganda but can still be put on trial for it in Uganda itself. Sounds more like a lynching campaign to me.

I will spare you the annoying details, however the bill is rife with various basic-human-rights-insulting-clauses. Feel free to browse it at this link. Just a quick review of the table of contents is sufficient enough to give any human being a severe headache.

BG

2 comments:

  1. Well, it's good we're in Lebanon then...

    Why can't people just be? Isn't this their basic right?

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  2. Thank you for writing about that! A while ago, Uganda was the success story of AFrica in terms of reducing the prevalence of HIV. The new Bill they're trying to pass is a huge step backwards, and it's happening in total impunity.
    You might be interested in reading this:
    www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/article/takeaction/globalactionalerts/989.html

    ReplyDelete