AIDS-Fondet skrev fredag til Ugandas ambassadør i Danmark for at protestere mod et lovforslag, der lige nu diskuteres i landets parlament.
Den foreslåede lov gør det ulovligt at være homoseksuel, og den betyder, at bøsser, lesbiske og transseksuelle risikerer fængsel på livstid – måske endda dødsstraf.
Samtidig risikerer alle at blive straffet, hvis de ikke angiver homoseksuelle.
Lovforslaget er både en grov krænkelse af menneskerettighederne, og en alvorlig trussel mod forebyggelsen af hiv og aids, gør AIDS-Fondet gældende.
Lovgivnings-mæssigt vil oplysning om hiv og smitteveje bliver betragtet som promovering af homoseksualitet og derfor være strafbart.
AIDS-Fondet fryg-ter, at forbuddet vil føre til skjult epidemi blandt bøsser, når gruppen må leve i hemmelighed og ikke har adgang til information, test og behandling.
I brevet til ambassadøren opfordrer den danske NGO til at lægge pres på de ugandesiske politikere.
Parlamentet i Kampala har før diskuteret at forbyde homoseksualitet, men de tidligere lovforslag er trukket tilbage bl.a. efter protester fra udlandet.
Samme opfordring har udviklingsminister Christian Friis Bach (R) modtaget. Det østafrikanske land er en af de største modtagere af dansk udviklingsbistand.
Uganda har således valgt at lægge sin ambassade for Danmark i København, mens de fleste afrikanske lande dækker deres diplomatiske relationer til Norden fra Stockholm.
DOKUMENT
Your Excellency Ambassador Joseph Tomusange,
We would like to thank you for the great cooperation you have always had with the Danish AIDS Foundation with regards to the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS and the far reaching consequences it has both in Denmark, Uganda and around the world.
In the light of this friendship and partnership, we would like to highlight a concern over recent developments with the hope that you can convey these concerns we have to the authorities that are in power.
With this letter, I wish to share with you the grave concern, that the news on the Ugandan Parliament’s re-tabling of Hon. David Bahati’s “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”, 2009 on the 7th of February 2012, at the opening of the 9th Parliament has left me with.
Last week, international media widely reported that the Bill has been amended (ændret) to remove the provision that would assign the death penalty to someone who was convicted of ‘serial’ acts of homosexuality.
However this seems not to be accurate. While Hon. Bahati has indicated his willingness as the Member moving the Bill to remove the provision, the version re-tabled (genfremsat) appears to be the original, intact form.
According to AIDS Foundation’s partner in Uganda, SMUG, even if such an amendment were to be recommended and adopted, it would render the Bill no more acceptable.
Passing of the Bill will violate international human rights law and plant seeds of hate, intolerance and violence in Ugandan society and furthermore pose a serious threat to Uganda’s fight against HIV/AIDS.
Men who have sex with men are particularly vulnerable to HIV, and in countries where homosexuality is criminalized, there is far too little access to even the very basic HIV prevention, testing, treatment or counselling.
This results in hidden epidemics among men who have sex with men, who are often not counted in official statistics, and it is furthermore evident that these hidden epidemics are drivers of the general epidemic.
In hope of a common understanding, that HIV/AIDS is best tackled with openness and tolerance, we hope that you will convey our concern about the consequences of passing this Bill to the Ugandan Parliament and executive.
We thank you in advance for voicing our concerns to the authorities back in Uganda and appreciate the fact that we have been partners fighting a common enemy, the virus HIV and not the unfortunate victims of it.
With kind regards
AIDS-Fondet
Henriette Laursen
CEO
Yderligere oplysninger hos:
Ida Brix, tlf. 26 28 65 53 og e-mail: [email protected]
Se også
http://www.amnesty.dk/nyhed/uganda/800-roser-den-myrdede-menneskerettighedsforkaemper-david-kato
