Press Release: March 31, 2009 Leading African clergy, personalities and civil society groups call on Uganda to stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Leading African clergy, personalities and civil society groups call on Uganda to stop the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Leading African clergy and prominent individuals, as well as more than 60 civil society and human rights groups from 10 sub-Saharan African countries have endorsed a statement called on the President, Government and Parliament of Uganda to reject the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in its entirety.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill provides for severe punishment, inclusive of imprisonment, for those engaging in same sex relations, as well as for members of the public who fail to report such activities to the authorities. The original draft also provides for the death penalty and life imprisonment. The Bill has already gone through the first reading in Parliament and is now before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee. “We are very concerned that it could become law within a few weeks or months”, said Adrian Jjuuko, Coordinator of Uganda's Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

The statement has been endorsed by leading African clergy such as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop of Uganda and Bishop of Kampala, the Most Reverend Henry Luke Orombi; the current Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Reverend Dr. Thabo Cecil Makgoba; the Suffragan Bishop of Kampala, the Right Reverend Zac Niringiye; and Bishop Jo Seoka, Bishop of Pretoria. In the declaration, the endorsing individuals and organizations reaffirm their commitment to the universality of the human rights of all persons. They note that “all forms of discrimination, in particular against vulnerable groups, undermine the human dignity of all in Africa”.

The individuals endorsing the statement include other leading members of the clergy, jurists, academics, truth commissioners and human rights activists. Their statement declares that the Bill “promotes prejudice and hate and encourages harmful and violent action against marginalized groups in Africa”.

“Civil society organisations throughout Africa are mobilizing to persuade Ugandan Parliamentarians to block this pernicious Bill”, said Godwin Bua, a lawyer with the Refugee Law Project in Kampala. “If it is passed, even in diluted form, it would constitute a massive setback for human rights in Africa”, Bua said.

The statement calls on African governments and the African Union to call on the President and Government of Uganda to withdraw the Bill and to respect the human rights of all in Uganda, without exception.
The list of individuals and organizations continues to grow and will be updated regularly. The full list can be viewed at www.ugandans4rights.org and www.alp.org.za.

CALL BY AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY: REJECT THE ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY BILL

We, the individuals and organisations from African countries listed hereunder, recognise the universality of the human rights of all persons.

We affirm that the right of men and women to have same sex relationships is a fundamental human right.

We are further guided in the knowledge that all forms of discrimination, in particular against vulnerable groups, undermine the human dignity of all in Africa.

We are therefore profoundly disturbed by the nature, content and potential impact of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill (“the Bill”) that was recently tabled in and is currently being considered by the Parliament of Uganda.

We believe that the Bill, if enacted, will cut deeply into the fabric of Ugandan society by–
• Violating the rights of an already vulnerable and severely stigmatised group of persons by attacking their dignity, privacy and other constitutionally protected rights;
• Disrupting family and community life by compelling everyone, by the threat of criminal sanction, to report those suspected of engaging in same-sex sexual activity;
• Seeking to withdraw Uganda from the family of nations by reneging on the country’s international law obligations;
• Undermining public health interventions such as HIV prevention, treatment, care and support;
• Promoting prejudice and hate and encouraging harmful and violent action to be taken against those engaging in same sex relations.
We respectfully call on the Parliament of Uganda to reject the Bill in its entirety.

We also call on African governments and the African Union to call on the President and Government of Uganda to withdraw the Bill and to respect the human rights of all in Uganda, without exception.

Statement endorsed by:-

African personalities include:[1]
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu (former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Former Chairperson of the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission, former General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize)

Most Reverend Dr. Thabo Cecil Makgoba (Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town)

Right Reverend Zac Niringiye (Suffragan Bishop of Kampala)

Bishop Jo Seoka (Bishop of Pretoria)

Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha, (Ordained Priest in the Church of Uganda, Recipient of the 2009 Niwano Peace Prize)

Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC (Acting Judge of the Cape High Court, Member of the South African Judicial Services Commission, Member of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, former Commissioner of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, National Chairperson of Advocates for Transformation)

Reverend Bongani Blessing Finca (former Commissioner of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Provincial Electoral Officer for the Eastern Cape, South Africa)

Dr. A. Atia Apusigah (Department of African Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana)

Yasmin Sooka (former Commissioner of the South African & Sierra Leonean Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, former Acting Judge of the High Court of South Africa, Director of the Foundation for Human Rights)
Kader Asmal, (Honorary Professor, University of the Western Cape; former South African Minister of Education, Barrister of Lincoln's Inn, London; former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Trinity College; founding member of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, former Chairperson of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, former member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress)
Dr. Alexander Lionel Boraine (Former President of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Chairperson of the Mauritian Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Former Deputy-Chairperson of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission)

Dipak Patel, (former Director-General of Transport in the South African Government and senior officer of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress)

Dr Fazel Randera (former Commissioner of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, former Inspector-General of Intelligence, former National Chairperson of the South African Human Rights Committee)

Mary Burton (former Commissioner of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, former President of the Black Sash, Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the University of Cape Town, Recipient of National Order of Luthuli Award)

African based Civil Society Organisations:

1. Africa Centre for HIV/Aids Management (South Africa)
2. African Council of AIDS Service Organizations (Senegal)
3. African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (Cameroon)
4. AIDS Consortium (South Africa)
5. AIDS Law Project (South Africa)
6. AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (Namibia)
7. Amnesty International East Africa (Uganda)
8. Anti-Privatisation Forum (South Africa)
9. Artists for a New South Africa (South Africa)
10. Association for Progressive Communications (South Africa)
11. Centre for Social Accountability (South Africa)
12. Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (Malawi)
13. Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (South Africa)
14. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (South Africa)
15. Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (Uganda)
16. Clinton Health Access Initiative (Uganda)
17. Coalition to End Discrimination (South Africa)
18. Development for Peace Education (Sierra Leone)
19. Engender (South Africa)
20. Equal Education (South Africa)
21. Fahamu, African Networks for Social Justice (Kenya)
22. Foundation for Human Rights (South Africa)
23. Freedom and Roam Uganda (Uganda)
24. Gay Umbrella (South Africa)
25. Gender DynamiX (South Africa)
26. Grassroots Movement for Health and Development (Malawi)
27. Gun Free South Africa (South Africa)
28. Health4Men (South Africa)
29. History Department of Rhodes University (South Africa)
30. Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (Uganda)
31. Human Rights Media Centre (South Africa)
32. Human Rights Institute of South Africa (South Africa)
33. Human Rights Watch (South Africa)
34. Independent Medico Legal Unit (Kenya)
35. International Center for Transitional Justice (South Africa)
36. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (South Africa)
37. Intersex South Africa (South Africa)
38. Kenya Human Rights Commission (Kenya)
39. Kubatana Trust (Zimbabwe)
40. Labour Research Service (South Africa)
41. Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (South Africa)
42. Legal Assistance Centre (Namibia)
43. OUT LGBT Well-Being (South Africa)
44. Out In AFrica Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (South Africa)
45. Pambazuka News (Kenya)
46. People Opposing Women Abuse (South Africa)
47. Public Service Accountability Monitor; Centre for Social Accountability (South Africa)
48. Rainbow UCT (South Africa)
49. Refugee Law Project (Uganda)
50. Rural Health Advocacy Project (South Africa)
51. Sexual Minorities (Uganda)
52. Social Justice Coalition (South Africa)
53. Sonke Gender Justice Network (South Africa)
54. South African History Archive (South Africa)
55. Southern Africa Litigation Centre (South Africa)
56. Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (South Africa)
57. Students for Law & Social Justice (South Africa)
58. Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme (South Africa)
59. Treatment Action Campaign (South Africa)
60. Uhspa-Uganda (Uganda)
61. Women's Academic Solidarity Association of Rhodes University (South Africa)
62. Women’s Legal Centre (South Africa)
63. Women'sNet (South Africa)

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Inquiries: Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Kampala:

Adrian Jjuuko: +256 - 782 - 169 – 505, jjuukoa@yahoo.co.uk;
Godwin Buwa: +256-782-764-269 godwinbuwa@yahoo.com,
Chris Dolan: +256 782 76 4269, dir@refugeelawproject.org