prescribes life in prison for persons convicted of homosexuality, a crime that already exists in Uganda’s laws. It also creates a new crime of “aggravated homosexuality” punishable with death; explicitly precludes a defence of consent for crimes under the law, and makes it possible to convict children, who are otherwise excluded from criminal responsibility under Ugandan law, for homosexuality.
The act begins with a spectacular feat of reductionism, describing a “homosexual” as “a person who engages in an act of homosexuality”. So, the act makes the person but what then is homosexuality? The Act says it “means the performance of a sexual act on a person by another person of the same sex”. This requires us then to understand what a “sexual act” means.
When the commission demurred, the AU threatened to withdraw its funding. In the end, the commission wilted under overwhelming sovereign pressure and withdrew the Observer Status granted to CAL. Surprisingly, South Africa, in whose territory CAL was lawfully registered, refused to raise a finger in defence of its laws and constitutional values.