The United Nation's high commissioner
on human rights has weighed in forcefully against a proposed anti-gay
bill currently before the Ugandan Parliament, the AFP reported.
Navi Pillay called the measure that
would strengthen the criminal penalties for having gay sex in the
African country “blatantly discriminatory.”
“The bill clearly breaches
international human rights standards,” she said Friday.
MP David Bahati's bill has been widely
condemned by Western countries. This
week, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee's subcommittee on International Trade, threatened to
reverse Uganda's advantageous trade status if it approves the bill.
The bill would increase the penalties
for being gay in a country where it is already illegal, including
adding a death penalty provision for repeat offenders and people who
are HIV-positive. It would also criminalize public discussion of
being gay, effectively gagging gay rights activists and their allies.
“The bill proposes draconian
punishments for people alleged to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgendered,” she said.
Saying that the “state should not
dictate the nature of private consensual relations between adults,”
Pillay, a South Africa native, called on the Ugandan government to
scrap the bill.