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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 but found it inconsistent with certain fundamental rights.
Activists say the law has unleashed a torrent of abuse against LGBT people by both private individuals and state agents.
“We decline to nullify the anti-homosexuality act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” said Richard Buteera, lead judge, reading the judgment on behalf of his colleagues.
The court did find, however, that some sections of the law violated the right to health, and that it was “inconsistent with right to health, privacy and freedom of religion.”
Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the law goes further.
It stipulates capital punishment for “serial offenders” against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex.
It also decrees a 20-year sentence for “promoting” homosexuality.
VIDEO | International condemnation of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill:
