Uganda’s Constitutional Court rejected a plea on Wednesday to abolish a contentious anti-gay law that is regarded as one of the most stringent in the world.
“We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement,” Justice Richard Buteera, Uganda’s deputy chief justice and head of the court, said in the landmark ruling.
The measure was passed in May of last year, sparking outcry among the LGBTQ community, rights activists, the United Nations, and Western nations.
The Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 punishes consenting same-sex relationships with up to life in prison and includes clauses making “aggravated homosexuality” a capital offense.
President Yoweri Museveni’s government has taken a strong stance, accusing the West of attempting to coerce Africa into accepting homosexuality.
Two law professors from Makerere University in Kampala, along with ruling party MPs and human rights advocates, signed the petition.
They claimed that it violated fundamental rights granted by Uganda’s constitution, such as freedom from discrimination and the right to privacy.
The petitioners also claimed that it violated Uganda’s duties under international human rights law, notably the United Nations Convention against Torture.
The court had started hearing the matter in December.
West trying to ‘coerce us’
In August of last year, a 20-year-old man became the first Ugandan to face charges for “aggravated homosexuality” under the controversial statute.
He was charged with “unlawful sexual intercourse with a 41-year-old male adult,” a death penalty offense.
Uganda, a conservative, mostly Christian country in East Africa, is well-known for its anti-homosexuality policies.
It has defied demands from human rights organizations, the United Nations, and other countries to repeal the law.
The United States, which had threatened to shut off funding and investment to Kampala, placed visa bans on unnamed officials in December for violating human rights, including those of the LGBTQ community.
In August, the World Bank said that it will halt fresh loans to Uganda due to the law, which “fundamentally contradicts” the ideals advocated by the US-based institution.
Ugandan state minister for foreign affairs Henry Okello Oryem accused the West of attempting “to coerce us into accepting same-sex relationships using aid and loans” in December.
International donors cut money to Uganda in 2014 after Museveni signed a bill that sought to imprison homosexuals for life, which was eventually overturned.
However, the current anti-gay legislation has received widespread support in the country, with politicians defending the restrictions as a necessary barrier against Western immorality.
A Ugandan court refused an LGBT rights group’s application for government registration last month, declaring that it wanted to promote “unlawful” activities.
The Court of Appeal ruled that any registration of the group Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) was contrary to public interest and national policy.