Man Faces Death Penalty for Violating Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law

Amnesty International — which is protesting the man’s prosecution — the 20-year-old was arrested along with a 41-year-old man after the two were allegedly found half-naked around midnight on August 15 at the Soroti Sports Ground in the eastern part of the country.Initially, both men were going to be charged with engaging in sexual relations with a person of the same sex.The charge carries a penalty of 10 years in prison for attempting to engage in same-sex conduct and life imprisonment for those found guilty of engaging in same-sex conduct.However, the 41-year-old, who is reportedly “disabled” — a claim for which no evidence was provided — was released because he could not provide consent due to his “mental status.” As a result, the 20-year-old was charged with “aggravated homosexuality,” which the law defines as instances in which a person engages in same-sex relations while living with HIV, or with a partner who can either not legally consent or has been coerced or seduced into sex.Such offenses are punishable by death under the law, which was signed into effect by President Yoweri Museveni in May.

Critics had previously argued that the way the bill was crafted would lead one party in consensual sex acts to betray their former sexual partner to avoid prosecution, which the 20-year-old’s lawyers believe may have occurred in this case.Police also reportedly subjected the 41-year-old to an anal examination, an outdated procedure often used in countries that criminalize homosexuality to “prove” (based on faulty science) whether a person has engaged in anal sex previously.While at least 67 countries worldwide have laws criminalizing homosexuality, Uganda’s anti-homosexuality law is considered one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ