Gay Ugandans fear harsh new anti-homosexuality law (Feature)

By Henry Wasswa Dec 20, 2009, 16:36 GMT

Kampala - Tall and slim, Julian Pepe is besieged and frightened after getting constant harassment from the Ugandan police, and verbal and physical attacks from some members of the public.

Her 'crime'? She is not only a lesbian but also an activist struggling for the rights of hundreds of other lesbians and gays who are likely to face tough sentences, including execution, if a bill that is likely to turn into law sails through parliament.

The bill - introduced by parliamentarian David Bahati - would see gay men and lesbians sentenced to life imprisonment for having sex, and a death sentence for sex with minors.

Anyone failing to report a homosexual act committed by others would face up to three years in jail.

In March, without reason, police detained Pepe in a cell, and she was interrogated for hours before she was released - with no charges levied against her.

On another occasion, plain-clothed security men hounded her into a police station where she was harassed through a barrage of questions and abuse.

'I asked them why I was under arrest but they replied that you people should die. One policewoman told me that she wished (former dictator Idi) Amin was still alive and that if it was so and he ordered the killing of gays and lesbians, she would participate in the firing squads,' the 29-year old told the German Press Agency dpa.

President Yoweri Musevenis government has drafted the tough anti-homosexual bill, which states that a person will be sentenced to life if he or she is convicted of using an object of sexual contraption to penetrate or stimulate a sexual organ or touches another with an intention of committing an act of homosexuality.

The death sentence would also be applied to anyone convicted of sex if the offender suffers from AIDS or if the victim of the act has physical or mental disabilities.

The proposed law further penalizes the owners of the premises where homosexual acts are committed and allows for a sentence of seven years for one who is convicted of broadcasting, production and dissemination of pornographic material for purposes of promoting homosexuality.

People including relatives and friends sheltering gays and lesbians or failing to report them to the authorities also face jail terms of up to five years, the bill says.

'I am a lesbian and have been so since I was a child. I have had several partners and now I have a partner whom I have been with four years,' said Pepe, who is coordinator of a gay rights lobby group, Sexual Minorities, Uganda .

'I feel the bill is unconstitutional and violates the rights of not only the gays but also other people. It is going an extra mile into violating peoples rights including the right to privacy and even making citizens become like the police against other citizens,' she said.

The debate over whether gays and lesbians should be protected and accepted by society is a new development in mostly conservative Uganda.

Gays and lesbians there have been hiding their identities for decades for fear of social discrimination and harassment by the authorities but the number of openly-gay people is believed to be increasing.

Their total number is not known but Pepe says that her group has registered about 500 in the capital Kampala alone.

Although the Ugandan public turned a blind eye to same sex spouses over the years , the proposed law appears to have inflammed a delicate situation and led to an apparent sharp increase in attacks on same-sex couples.

'At the place where I live, stones are thrown at my house. At one time, the window was shattered. I feel vulnerable. I have been getting threatening calls and bad e-mails some saying, you people do not belong to this country. Most of the messages are from men,' Pepe told dpa.

The government appears determined to push through the controversial law despite increasing international condemnation and even isolation over the issue.

Some gay rights activists in Britain have suggested suspending Uganda from the commonwealth if the law is passed.

Well-known anti-gay politician, and Minister for Ethics and Integrity, James Nsaba Buturo denies that people with same sex partnerships are being harassed - and insists that the anti-gay legislation will proceed despite the opposition.

'It is not true that the homosexuals are harassed as they go around the world making claims that they are mistreated and jailed.

'Homosexuality will not be encouraged in Uganda. This is our position', he told a recent news conference.

Meanwhile, a mass demonstration in favour of the new law is planned for Tuesday in Kampala, by the major evangelical Christian churches in Uganda.