AIDS-Fondet protesterer: Ugandisk lovforslag er trussel mod hiv-forebyggelse

AIDS-Fondets direktør, Henriette Laursen, har skrevet til Ugandas ambassadør i Danmark for at protesteremod et lovforslag, der lige nu diskuteres i Ugandas parlament. Den foreslåede lov gør det ulovligt at værehomoseksuel, og den betyder, at bøsser, lesbiske og transseksuelle risikerer fængsel på livstid – måskeendda dødstraf. Samtidig alle at blive straffet, hvis de ikke angiver homoseksuelle.- Lovforslaget er vanvittigt, fordi det både er en grov krænkelse af menneskerettighederne, og det er enalvorlig trussel mod forebyggelsen af hiv og aids. Lovgivningsmæssigt vil oplysning om hiv og smittevejebliver betragtet som promovering af homoseksualitet og derfor være strafbart, siger Henriette Laursen.Hun frygter at forbuddet vil føre til en skjult epidemi blandt bøsser, når gruppen må leve i hemmelighed ogikke har adgang til information, test og behandling.Parlamentet i Uganda har før diskuteret at forbyde homoseksualitet, men de tidligere lovforslag er blevettrukket tilbage efter protester fra udlandet.Se brevet til Ugandas ambassador:Your Excellency Ambassador Joseph Tomusange,We would like to thank you for the great corporation you have always had with the Danish AIDS Foundationwith regards to the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS and the far reaching consequences it has both inDenmark, Uganda and around the world. In the light of this friendship and partnership, we would like tohighlight a concern over recent developments with the hope that you can convey these concerns we haveto the authorities that are in power.With this letter, I wish to share with you the grave concern, that the news on the Ugandan Parliament’s re-tabling of Hon. David Bahati’s “Anti-Homosexuality Bill”, 2009 on the 7thof February 2012, at the openingof the 9thParliament has left me with.Last week, international media widely reported that the Bill has been amended to remove the provisionthat would assign the death penalty to someone who was convicted of ‘serial’ acts of homosexuality.However this seems not to be accurate. While Hon. Bahati has indicated his willingness as the Membermoving the Bill to remove the provision, the version re-tabled appears to be the original, intact form.According to AIDS Foundation’s partner in Uganda, SMUG, even if such an amendment were to berecommended and adopted, it would render the Bill no more acceptable.Passing of the Bill will violate international human rights law and plant seeds of hate, intolerance andviolence in Ugandan society and furthermore pose a serious threat to Uganda’s fight against HIV/AIDS.Men who have sex with men are particularly vulnerable to HIV, and in countries where homosexuality iscriminalized, there is far too little access to even the very basic HIV prevention, testing, treatment orcounselling. This results in hidden epidemics among men who have sex with men, who are often notcounted in official statistics, and it is furthermore evident that these hidden epidemics are drivers of thegeneral epidemic.