Uganda's government is trying to hide life sentences for positive people and compulsory testing for pregnant women in a partially progressive "HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act". Homosexuals with HIV even have to fear the death penalty due to the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Act.
While the death penalty for repeated homosexual acts is still being discussed in Uganda, the situation for people with HIV is threatening to deteriorate dramatically.
Health Minister Richard Nduhura surprisingly declared his full support for an "HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act" last week. He had previously refused to do so. The reason: parts of the law would lead to discrimination and marginalisation of HIV-positive people. Today, the law was dealt with in the first reading in the Ugandan parliament and then referred to the Social Affairs Committee.
The draft law, which is to be passed within four weeks, provides, among other things, for life imprisonment for HIV-positive people who "knowingly" pass on the virus. It is not specified what "knowingly" means exactly. For example, it is unclear whether the HIV-positive person must know of their infection in order to fulfil this criterion and how the government intends to prove "deliberate passing on".
The National Forum of People Living with AIDS Network in Uganda therefore sharply criticised parts of the bill again last week. Leading members of the organisation accused Nduhura of having allowed himself to be "persuaded" by the health committee to adopt the more restrictive and useless parts of the bill, after the anti-homosexuality law had met with a very positive response from the Ugandan public.
The situation is difficult because some parts of the "HIV and AIDS Prevention and Control Act" are progressive. They are intended to provide a legal framework to prevent discrimination against people with HIV in public life and the world of work. On the other hand, however, there are plans to automatically test certain groups of people for HIV without their consent. These include rapists and their victims, people who inject drugs intravenously, sex offenders and people accused of prostitution, as well as pregnant women and their partners.
In Uganda, the diplomatic battle over the "anti-homosexuality law" is still raging. Introduced into parliament in October, the bill caused fierce protests from human rights organisations, the UN, as well as the US government and many European governments.
According to the draft bill, consensual intercourse between partners of the same sex would be punishable by up to life imprisonment. If repeated intercourse is proven or if one of the partners is HIV-positive or under 18, both partners would be punished with death.
The aim of the diplomatic negotiations is to abolish or at least mitigate the law. The Ugandan government under President Yoweri Museveni has so far seen no reason to do so, as it is sure of the support of large sections of its population.
(Paul Schulz)
