The Ugandan constitutional court commenced hearings on Monday for the first legal challenge against a severe anti-gay law that has prompted global condemnation, including sanctions from the United States.
The law, implemented in May, is recognized as one of the world’s strictest measures against homosexuality. It has elicited strong criticism from human rights advocates and Western nations, with US President Joe Biden threatening to cut aid and investment to Uganda.
Nicholas Opiyo, the lawyer representing the petitioners, informed the court in Kampala that they opted for written submissions instead of oral presentations. “Court shall give judgement on notice,” remarked Uganda’s deputy chief justice Richard Buteera, who heads the panel of five judges presiding over the constitutional court.
The petitioners contesting the law include human rights activists, two law professors from Makerere University in Kampala, and two legislators from President Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Movement party. However, no specific date has been set for the court’s ruling, AFP reported.
In response to the law, Washington imposed visa restrictions on unidentified officials deemed accountable for “undermining the democratic process” and violating LGBTQ rights in Uganda. Additionally, the US plans to remove the country from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade pact starting January 2024.
The legislation deems “aggravated homosexuality” as a capital offense and imposes life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations.
Despite global condemnation, the law enjoys substantial backing in Uganda, where lawmakers defend it as a safeguard against what they perceive as Western immorality.
Henry Okello Oryem, Uganda’s state minister for foreign affairs, accused the West of using aid and loans as leverage to force Uganda into accepting same-sex relationships.
The World Bank suspended new loans to Uganda in August over the law, stating that it contradicts the institution’s fundamental values.
Earlier in 2014, international donors slashed aid to Uganda when Museveni approved a bill proposing life imprisonment for homosexual relations, a decision that was eventually overturned.
