Uganda Accuses US of Blackmail over Anti-Gay Law
Voice of America - 17 hours ago
June 20, 2014 1:15 AM
James Butty
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni signs an anti-homosexual bill into
law at the state house in Entebbe, 36 km (22 miles) south west of
capital Kampala February 24, 2014. Museveni signed into law on Monday
an anti-gay bill that toughens already strict legis
A spokesman for the Ugandan government says his country will not be
blackmailed into changing its anti-homosexual law.
Ofwono Opondo said Uganda is a sovereign country with an independent
parliament and it should be allowed to make laws that are in the
interest of its citizens.
This comes after the United States Thursday announced it would impose
sanctions on Uganda for its anti-gay law.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said Ugandan
officials involved in human rights abuses, including against the gay
community will be denied entry into the United States.
The US also cancels a scheduled military exercise with Uganda.
Signed by President Yoweri Museveni earlier this year, the anti-gay
law says "repeat homosexuals" should be jailed for life. It also makes
it illegal to promote homosexuality in Uganda.
Government spokesman Opondo said Uganda's constitution does not
recognize homosexuality as a human rights issue.
"Uganda cannot compel the United States to give us their money. We
shall make do with the resources that we have. Uganda is a sovereign
country; our parliament is a sovereign parliament and we should be
allowed to make laws and make decisions that we think are in our
interest," he said.
Opondo said it was inappropriate for the US to first announce the
sanctions in the media without first formally notifying the government
of Uganda.
He said imposing sanctions on Uganda does not help protect what he
calls the so-called human rights that the United States is seeking to
protect.
"We have stated before that homosexuality is not a fundamental human
rights in our own constitution," Opondo said.
Opondo said even if homosexuality were protected under Ugandan law and
the government was violating such right, there are democratic and
legitimate platforms through which the United States government can
engage the Ugandan government.
"They can engage the government of Uganda through the diplomatic
channel and through the parliament of Uganda by requesting why the law
should be repealed; they can support groups to challenge this law
through our judicial system. We have a judicial system that can handle
any issue, but we reject the blackmail by the United States
government," Opondo said.
He said if the US government believes in the rule of law, then it
should be able to use the Ugandan parliamentary platform or its
judicial system to challenge the anti-gay law.
Opondo said the anti-gay law is popular with Ugandans, and he
challenged the US government to sponsor a referendum to test whether
the US position is correct or not.
Uganda is one of about 50 African countries that are expected to
attend the US-Africa summit to be hosted by President Barack Obama in
August.
Some Africa analysts and human rights defenders say President Obama
should exclude Uganda from the summit because of the country's
anti-gay law.
Opondo said Uganda believes continued engagement is much better than
"blackmail".
"We think there is no reason why the president of Uganda should not be
able to attend. The United States government should use that summit to
engage the president of Uganda through diplomatic channels rather than
blackmail. Preventing President Museveni from attending the summit
does not in any way cancel the validity of the law passed by the
Ugandan parliament," he said.
http://www.google.ca/gwt/x?gl=CA&hl=en-CA&u=http://www.voanews.com/content/uganda-accuses-us-of-blackmail-over-anti-gay-law/1941165.html&source=s&q=Uganda+Accuses+US+of+Blackmail+over+Anti-Gay+Law+Voice+of+America
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SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
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