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ACTIVISTS/UGANDABack
[Published: Wednesday March 12 2014]

Activists challenge Uganda anti-homosexuality law 

Kampala, 12 Mar - (ANA) - Ugandan rights activists and politicians have filed a legal challenge to overturn a tough anti-gay law condemned by Western donors. The law violated the rights of gay people and subjected them to "cruel and inhuman punishment", they said. Several cases of "violence and retaliation" have been reported since President Yoweri Museveni signed the law last month, the activists added. Uganda is a deeply conservative society where many people oppose gay rights. The allows life imprisonment as the penalty for acts of "aggravated homosexuality" and also criminalises the "promotion of homosexuality". The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which represents about 50 groups, filed the petition in the Constitutional Court, asking for the law to be annulled. Ruling party MP Fox Odoi, who is Mr Museveni's former legal adviser, was among the lead petitioners. He broke ranks with his party by opposing the law in parliament, and said he did not fear a backlash from voters in the 2016 election. Uganda's authorities have defended the law, saying President Museveni wanted "to demonstrate Uganda's independence in the face of Western pressure and provocation". The World Bank has postponed a $90m (£54m) loan to Uganda to improve its health services after the law was approved. Several European nations - including Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden - have cut aid to Uganda to show their opposition to the law.(ANA)
FA/ANA/12 March 2014-----------
 

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