in the news: uganda urged to scrap anti-gay bill

"GENEVA — UN rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday urged the Ugandan government to scrap an anti-homosexuality bill which is to be put before parliament, saying that it was 'blatantly discriminatory.'

'The bill clearly breaches international human rights standards, as it is blatantly discriminatory,' said Pillay in a statement.

The draft law, which has been harshly condemned by the United States and European Union, would impose the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality', applicable in cases of rape of a minor by a person of the same sex, or where one partner carries the AIDS virus.

It would also criminalise public discussion of homosexuality and could penalise an individual who knowingly rents property to a homosexual.

'The bill proposes draconian punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered,' the High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

'It is extraordinary to find legislation like this being proposed more than 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ... made it clear this type of discrimination is unacceptable,' she added.

Calling on Uganda to 'shelve (the) draconian draft bill,' Pillay warned that the bill could seriously hurt the country's reputation.

'To criminalise people on the basis of colour or gender is now unthinkable in most countries,' she said.

'The same should apply to an individual's sexual orientation. International human rights standards strongly suggest that the state should not dictate the nature of private consensual relations between adults,' she added." - (AFP)