Press Release of No Peace Without Justice, Certi Diritti, Arcigay, Nessuno Tocchi Caino, Gruppo EveryOne, Cgil Nuovi Diritti:
“We have just heard from Kampala, Uganda, that the Parliament, in its last session, decided not to proceed with the vote on the anti-homosexuality Bill, adjourning the discussion until after the upcoming Parliamentary elections. In recent days, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament had endorsed and recommended the passage of the Bill and asked for a clause to be added mandating the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality”.
Civil society groups in Kampala, opposed to this provision as threatening Uganda’s LGBT community and putting Uganda at odds with its fundamental human rights obligations, have sent messages of thanks for the extraordinary worldwide mobilization against this shocking Bill, whose proponents wanted it to pass on the last day of the current Parliament.
In a few days, more than 1.4 million citizens from numerous countries around the world have mobilized with petitions and initiatives seeking to block the anti-gay Bill; many human rights organizations have mobilized to urge governments to call on the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni not to sign the Bill if it was approved by the Parliament, as the United States already did by threatening an international embargo against Uganda.
We and all those who care about the promotion and the defense of civil and human rights in Uganda will keep up our commitment in order to ensure that this odious legislation never sees the light of day. We dedicate this good news to our partner and friend David Kisule Kato, who engaged himself against this disgraceful legislation and was killed by fanaticism and the hatred of religious fundamentalism”.
For further information, please contact Elio Polizzotto (NPWJ), email: epolizzotto@npwj.org, phone: +32 2 548 39 21. Check also the websites: http://www.npwj.org and http://www.certidiritti.it
