Uganda anti-gay bill shelved

As we Canadians prepare for an election call – wait for it – I have some belated praise for Stephen Harper.

In 2009 he went public about about Canada’s position on Uganda’s anti-gay bill which imposed long jail terms and death for Ugandan GLBT and those who know them or assist them. He was one of several world leaders to speak up.

Harper told reporters he met privately with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni during the Commonwealth leaders’ summit to express “Canada’s deep concern and strong opposition to the bill.”

“We deplore these kinds of measures,” Harper said. “We find them inconsistent with any reasonable understanding of human rights.”

It appears the Ugandan government has finally shelved the pending legislation according to ADN. From the Spanish translation:

The Government of Uganda today dismissed a bill that sought to toughen penalties against homosexual population.

The Ugandan Minister of Information, Kabakumba Masika, said to reporters that a subcommittee of the Government concluded in a report that there was no reason to take another practice Act and punishable by the laws of Uganda.

“The report we got yesterday pointed out that there were parts of the bill are already covered by other standards,” said Masika.

While human rights in Uganda remain dire, if this report is true, this is a positive step. Unfortunately, this is the only news source which is reporting the bill has been killed. 83 countries have laws against homosexuality, in 7 countries homosexuality is punishable by death. The UN Human Rights Council condemned violence against GLBT and affirmed their rights earlier this week.

via: Box Turtle Bulletin

Update: Uganda Information Minister confirms the report