Tag Archives: Country: Uganda

AP: More women are initiating divorces in Uganda, a conservative East African country where women are becoming empowered to leave a bad marriage in a way their mothers could not, rights activists and legal experts say.

WorldNetDaily: The decision from the Supremes was that the Alien Tort Statute cannot be used to challenge foreign conduct in courts inside the United States. The ruling came down in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, but attorneys for Pastor Scott Lively say it means a claim brought against him by an organization called Sexual Minorities Uganda should be dismissed.

C-FAM: A new Guttmacher Institute report on Uganda recommends increased access to contraception and abortion as a way to improve women’s health and reduce unintended pregnancies. Yet the abortion advocacy group uses questionable data to push its priorities onto people who, it acknowledges, want children and reject abortion.

AP: Lively’s lawyer, Horatio Mihet, called the case an attack on the U.S. Constitution and his client’s First Amendment right to free speech. Plaintiff’s attorney Pam Spees, from the Center for Constitutional Rights, said Lively conspired with others in Uganda to persecute gays.

Liberty Counsel: Today, Liberty Counsel will represent Rev. Scott Lively, an evangelical pastor who was sued by the foreign group called Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG). The suit heard by the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, alleges that Rev. Lively committed “crimes against humanity” in violation of “international law,” simply by sharing his Biblical views on homosexuality during a 2009 visit to Uganda.

Reuters: “Things were much better before the evangelical movement,” said Frank Mugisha, director of the gay rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). He accuses Uganda’s born-again pastors of spreading propaganda, including that homosexuals are “recruiting” young children.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: However, when the Ugandan authorities investigated the case (which probably they would have done even without the gentle exhortations by the European Parliament), it turned out that the murderer of David Kato was not a fanaticized “homophobe”. Instead, he was a male prostitute. A “crime committed on the basis of sexual orientation”? In a certain sense, yes, given that only homosexuals run the risk of being slain by male prostitutes whom they refuse to pay for their services . . .

Liberty Counsel: Liberty Counsel has filed a 109-page motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Sexual Minorities Uganda (“SMUG”) against Rev. Scott Lively, a United States citizen, in a United States district court. In the suit, SMUG alleges that Rev. Lively committed “crimes against humanity” in violation of “international law,” simply by sharing his Biblical views on homosexuality during a 2009 visit to Uganda. “There are at least nine independent grounds that require a dismissal of this lawsuit,” Liberty Counsel told the court in its written legal argument.

UGPulse.com: The interreligious council of Uganda has called upon members of parliament to pass the long awaited anti homosexuality bill which is currentlybefore parliament.

Wendy Wright at C-Fam: A law firm known for publicity-seeking tactics is suing an American minister in U.S. Federal Court because he criticized homosexuality in Uganda. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) says pastor and attorney Scott Lively committed “persecution,” a “crime against humanity” as defined in the Rome Statutes of the International Criminal Court.

Daily Monitor: It is every child’s dream and wish to grow up in a family with two loving parents to care for them and to look up to. However, that has not been possible for many children, especially here in Africa where the tendency of polygamy is wide spread and many homes are composed of step mothers and fathers.

Liberty Counsel has agreed to represent Rev. Scott Lively, an evangelical pastor who was sued in a Massachusetts federal court by a foreign group called Sexual Minorities of Uganda (SMUG).

AP: Sexual Minorities Uganda believes that if it wins the suit, other American evangelicals it accuses of spreading anti-gay propaganda would stay away from Uganda.

NY Times: The lawsuit maintains that beginning in 2002, Mr. Lively conspired with religious and political leaders in Uganda to whip up anti-gay hysteria with warnings that gay people would sodomize African children and corrupt their culture.

News from The Associated Press: A gay activist in Uganda says that the country’s ethics minister, accompanied by police, broke up a meeting of gay participants.

JURIST: The Parliament of Uganda [official website] on Tuesday reintroduced legislation that would criminalize certain homosexual activities.

LifeSiteNews.com: The president of Ghana is leading the charge as several African countries are making their stand against Britain’s threat that they either legalize homosexual acts or be excluded from financial aid.

BBC News: The UK is showing a “bullying mentality” by threatening to cut aid to countries where homosexuality is illegal, a Ugandan official says.

Bloomberg: Uganda’s parliament voted to reopen a debate on a bill that seeks to outlaw homosexuality that may be expanded to include the death penalty for gay people.

God Discussion: Every day families fear for their children in Uganda and the children fear for their siblings due to witch doctors kidnapping children and using them for ritual sacrifice.

AP: Uganda’s parliament adjourned Friday without acting on a criticized anti-gay bill that would mandate the death sentence in some cases, drawing praise from an advocacy group that said parliament’s failure to act was a “victory for all Ugandans.”

VPR (6 min. audio): Uganda’s parliament is expected to vote Friday on a bill that would impose harsh punishments on homosexuals. The Associated Press reports that the original bill requires the death penalty for “serial offenders,” life imprisonment for those convicted of homosexual acts, and a seven year prison sentence for those aiding and abetting homosexual acts. Host Michel Martin speaks with the author of Uganda’s anti-gay bill, David Bahati, about the bill’s potential impact in Uganda if it passes.

San Diego Gay and Lesbian Network: The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle is a San Diego human rights activist and is president of St. Paul’s Foundation for International Reconciliation. He is an expert on Ugandan LGBT issues through his work with Bishop Christopher Senyonjo. As a cradle Anglican and Episcopalian priest, I was shocked to learn that out of 80 countries that currently criminalize homosexuality, 45 are former British colonies and whose modern elites are largely Anglicans . . .

Guardian: Ugandan MPs will debate a bill calling for gay people to be imprisoned for life on Friday after a walkout by women MPs over an unrelated matter forced parliament’s adjournment.

New Vision Online: THE controversial Marriage and Divorce Bill will be passed before the end of the eighth Parliament, Speaker Edward Ssekandi has said. The proposed legislation recognises cohabitation in terms of property rights, abolishes forced marriage, prohibits same sex marriage and allows women to divorce their husbands on grounds of cruelty.

LifeSiteNews: The House Financial Services Committee has approved a measure that recommends cuts in foreign aid to countries based on their opposition to homosexual activity, which opposition the measure calls a “gross [violation] of human rights.” The amendment was offered by Rep. Barney Frank, who is openly homosexual . . .

AFP: “A Ugandan gay rights activist was killed after reneging on an agreement to pay for sex, the country’s police chief told journalists Thursday.”

USA Today: “When the prayer breakfast convenes again on Thursday (Feb. 3), they’ll be back, this time charging that some of the evangelical supporters of the prayer breakfast have blood on their hands. Last year’s protests were fueled by a proposed law in Uganda calling for life sentences for people convicted of homosexual activity . . . ”

BBC: “Lawyers for a Ugandan woman who says she is a lesbian say a judge has rejected an initial appeal for an injunction to stop her deportation. Brenda Namiggade says she fears for her life if she is returned to Uganda where gay sex is against the law.”

Associated Press: “Uganda’s High Court has ruled that the media should not publish the names and photos of gay Ugandans following a vitriolic campaign in the east African country which urged citizens to hang those featured.”

In-depth Africa: “A Ugandan high court judge on Tuesday extended a ban on the publication in the media of pictures identifying people as homosexuals, sparking the ire of a leading anti-gay pastor.”

David Lindsay writing at The American Conservative / Post Right: “Certain people might consider applying some journalistic or scientific objectivity to the question of where in Africa the condom use relentlessly promoted by Western NGOs and compliant governments has ever arrested, never mind reversed, the rate of HIV infection. There is nowhere. However, such a reversal is under way in Uganda, where the government’s message is the same as the Catholic Church’s: ‘Change Your Behavior.””

CNN: “A judge temporarily ordered a tabloid in Uganda to stop publishing lists identifying people it claims are gay after an advocacy organization filed a lawsuit.”

Associated Press: “The front-page newspaper story featured a list of Uganda’s 100 ‘top’ homosexuals, with a bright yellow banner across it that read: ‘Hang Them.’ Alongside their photos were the men’s names and addresses.”

LifeSiteNews: “The Ugandan government has announced a new legislative initiative to widen the definition of pornography and to eliminate its distribution from the country.”

Global Post: “Uganda’s ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill,’ which raised a worldwide uproar over its death penalty for gay sex, has stalled in parliamentary committee and it is unlikely to be passed in the current session, according to gay activists here.”

Religion Clause Blog: “On Monday, President Obama signed S. 1067, the ‘Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.’ In his Signing Statement . . . The Lord’s Resistance Army is Christian militant group based in northern Uganda . . . ” | Wikipedia: Lord’s Resistance Army

ABC: “Libya and Thailand are among 14 countries elected as new members of the UN Human Rights Council in a vote that rights advocates have criticised as stripping the meaning from the body. Angola, Mauritania, Uganda, Maldives, Malaysia, Qatar, Moldova, Poland, Ecuador, Guatemala, Spain and Switzerland have also been elected by the General Assembly for three-year terms on the 47-nation council, which is based in Geneva.”

HRC Backstory Blog: “The Senate Resolution [S. Res. 409], introduced by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, expresses the United States government’s “unequivocal” opposition to the proposed Ugandan bill . . . A similar resolution is pending in the House of Representatives (H. Res. 1064).”

Boston Globe (AP): “In this Feb. 11, 2010 photo, Balluonzima Christ, left, and Rose Ajiba hold a photograph of their child Caroline Aya, allegedly killed for a sacrificial ceremony in Jinja, Uganda. The number of children and adults killed in ritualistic murders rose to a new high in Uganda last year, police figures show. At least 15 children and 14 adults were killed so that their body parts could be used in ceremonies carried out by witch doctors who in many cases persuade paying customers that the sacrifices will bring them wealth or good health.”

Christian Post: “‘Exodus International believes that every human life, regardless of an individual’s sexual behavior, is of inestimable worth to God and that defending this principle is foundational in offering a Christian response to any issue,’ reads a statement issued by the Board of Directors of Exodus International and its North American membership. ‘Exodus International has not and will not support any legislation that deprives others of life and dignity including, but not limited to, Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009.’” | EXODUS International

Religion Clause Blog: “In Uganda earlier this month, the women’s rights organization Mifumi Uganda Ltd. filed a petition in the country’s Constitutional Court seeking to have laws that permit men to practice polygamy, but do not permit women to have more than one husband, declared unconstitutional.”

AP: “A Ugandan pastor is showing gay pornography at church to try to garner support for a proposed law that would impose the death penalty for some gays.”

Reuters: “‘We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are — whether it’s here in the United States or … more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda,’ Obama told the National Prayer Breakfast.”

Religion Clause Blog: “Beliefnet yesterday reported that this year, gay-rights leaders, including a member of the White House faith advisory council, are urging President Obama to use the Breakfast to speak out against repressive anti-gay legislation pending in the Parliament of Uganda . . . ”

BBC: “A Ugandan MP who proposed introducing the death penalty for some gay people has told a newspaper he is willing to change his draft legislation.”

Box Turtle Bulletin: “Chris Johnson at DCAgenda reports that US Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WS) will chair a meeting of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission next week to hear testimony on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill that is now before Uganda’s Parliament . . . ” (links omitted) The post also links to a statement by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Telegraph: Moses Binoga, the assistant police commissioner who is head of the Ugandan anti-human sacrifice and trafficking task force, said there were 26 murders thought to be part of ritual sacrifice last year compared with three cases in 2007. ‘We also have about 120 children and adults reported missing whose fate we have not traced,’ he added. ‘From the experience of those whom we recovered, we cannot rule out that they may be victims of human sacrifice.’”

Reuters: “Ethics and Integrity Minister Nsaba Buturo told Reuters that the revised law would now probably limit the maximum penalty for offenders to life in prison rather than execution.”

Mary Sanchez writes at the Atlanta Journal Constitution: “Is it fair to blame Warren for what fanatics do to homosexuals in Uganda, legally or otherwise, simply because he promotes the same Scripture-based view of homosexuality as evil? No, but it’s worth asking whether there isn’t something in that view that leads to treating gays and lesbians as somewhat lesser beings than heterosexuals . . . Here in America, one may find Warren’s view of human nature and sexuality merely idiotic and annoying. In less secular — or should I say less enlightened? — climes, those views are downright dangerous.”

AP: “The letter was signed by Reps. Frank Wolf of Virginia, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, Trent Franks of Arizona and Anh ‘Joseph’ Cao of Louisiana.”

Virtue Online: “The pressure on the Church of Uganda to respond to legislation that will be placed before the Ugandan Parliament on homosexual behaviour is not restricted to Uganda. This issue is affecting other democratic nations in Africa and Asia . . . The West will not leave Africa alone. It portrays the continent as either primitive and lawless or fashionably progressive. However, this ambivalence ensures two particular victims, religion and the family.”

Christian Post: “Pastors in Uganda recently chided evangelical pastor Rick Warren after he urged them to speak out against the country’s Anti-Homosexuality bill.”

Religion Clause Blog: “USA Today reports that last week 75 Christian leaders from a variety of backgrounds signed a Statement (originally released 12/7) denouncing the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2009 (full text) currently under consideration by the Parliament of Uganda . . . ”

AP: “Proposed legislation would impose the death penalty for some gay Ugandans, and their family and friends could face up to seven years in jail if they fail to report them to authorities. Even landlords could be imprisoned for renting to homosexuals.”

Globe and Mail: “The law, proceeding through Uganda’s Parliament and supported by some of its top leaders, would imprison anyone who knows of the existence of a gay or lesbian and fails to inform the police within 24 hours. It requires the death penalty for ‘aggravated homosexuality’ – defined as any sexual act between gays or lesbians in which one person has the HIV virus.”

Christian Telegraph: “According to a November 10 report from Compass Direct, approximately 40 Muslims armed with machetes and clubs attacked the World Possessor’s Church International in Namasuba, just outside the capital city of Kampala, Uganda, on November 1 while believers were holding a worship service, reports Voice of the Martyrs Canada.”

Sky News: “France has joined the United States in publicly condemning Uganda’s proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would vastly strengthen the country’s anti-gay laws.”

AFP: “If Uganda’s recently tabled Anti-Homosexuality Bill becomes law it would mark a major setback in the promotion of human rights, the US embassy in Kampala told AFP Thursday.”

AllAfrica.com: “Several Members of Parliament have asked the government to be more flexible and allow incest, rape and defilement victims to procure abortions.”

The New Vision: “The US Ambassador, Steven Browning, yesterday expressed concern at the pace at which human trafficking was spreading. He said it was now the third most lucrative crime after the drugs and illegal weapons trade, and warned that Uganda has not been spared by the vice.”

Xinhua reports: “Uganda will maintain its stance against homosexuality despite increased calls by foreign governments to legalize it, an official said here on Friday.”

LifeSiteNews.com reports: . . . In a column appearing in the Washington Post on June 30, one of Uganda’s leading AIDS prevention experts called on the Western “experts” to “Let my people go.” “We understand that casual sex is dear …

AIDS is no longer simply a disease; it has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Uganda has most often been castigated for its approach on the subject, despite which it maintains a rather rigid and bold stand; which has seen the most recent amendments to its legislation outlawing homosexuality in any form or stage.