Uganda top court declines to block controversial anti-gay law, but sees some rights infringed
- Uganda’s constitutional court on Wednesday declined to nullify or suspend an Anti-Homosexuality law that prescribes the death penalty for certain same-sex acts
- The court did find, however, some sections of the law violated the right to health, and was ‘inconsistent with right to health, privacy and freedom of religion’
Uganda’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a bid to scrap a controversial anti-gay law that is considered one of the toughest in the world.
“We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” Justice Richard Buteera, Uganda’s deputy chief justice and head of the court, said in the landmark ruling.
The legislation was adopted in May last year, triggering outrage among the LGBTQ community, rights campaigners, the United Nations and Western powers.
It imposes penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations, and contains provisions that make “aggravated homosexuality” an offence punishable by death.
The five-judge bench however ruled that sections of the law violated the right to health and infringed on the right to adequate standards of living as enshrined in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
But “the upshot of our judgment is that this petition substantially fails,” Buteera said, reading a summary of the more than 200-page ruling.
