uhspauganda

In this photo taken Thursday May, 20, 2010 file photo, Tiwonge Chimbalanga, foreground, and Steven Monjeza, left back, are led from court in Blantyre, Malawi, after a judge sentenced the couple to the maximum 14 years in prison for unnatural acts and gross indecency under Malawi's anti-gay legislation. Malawi's president says he has pardoned and ordered the release of the two Saturday May 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Ntonya, File) A prison spokesman in Malawi says a gay couple pardoned by the president has been released. Evance Phiri said Sunday that Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were released late Saturday, hours after President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned them without condition. Mutharika stressed that homosexuality remains illegal in the conservative southern African country. It was not clear where the men went after their release. They were not at their Blantyre home when an Associated Press reporter visited Sunday. Malawi had faced international condemnation for the c...

Hon Beatrice Rwakimari, the Ntungamo District Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the HIV/Aids Committee in Parliament has said all concerns of sexual Minority groups in Uganda regarding the HIV/AIDS control Bill 2010 she tabled mid this year in Parliament shall be addressed. She said this in a meeting in Kampala with the Executive Director of UHSPA-Uganda, Mr. Kikonyogo Kivumbi. Ms Rwakimari said she “understood" UHSPA's concerns of minority, LGBTI groups if the bill is passed in the current form and said a position paper by minority groups is welcome. “This law is for all Ugandans. Minorities are Ugandans and we shall listen to them equally," She said. Mr. Kivumbi told Rwakimari that LGBTI and sex workers are being targeted by the spirit behind the bill to control them. “Minorities need not be controlled. They are partners in the fight against the pandemic and should be part of the process," Kivumbi asserted. He specifically raised a clause on the confidenti...

After enduring decades of state torture and gross human rights abuse,minorities in Uganda are the next target When he arrived at Kampala’s Hotel Triangle for a three-day conference, the Rev Kapya Kaoma knew that he would not like what he heard. The clue was in the event’s title — “Exposing the truth behind homosexuality and the homosexual agenda” — and in the line-up of guest speakers arranged by Stephen Langa, head of the Ugandan-based Family Life Network (FLN), and an outspoken advocate for the criminalisation of homosexuality in Uganda. Given top billing at the event hosted by the FLN was Scott Lively, president of Abiding Truth Ministries, an American conservative Christian group from California, and a Holocaust revisionist whose controversial book The Pink Swastika names homosexuals as “the true inventors of Nazism and the guiding force behind many Nazi atrocities.” Weeks after the Kampala conference in March last year — which followed a meeting between the speakers and members of...

UGANDA HEALTH AND SCIENCE PRESS ASSOCIATION _____________________________Press Release__________________ For immediate release: Contact person: Kikonyogo N. Kivumbi (English, Luganda, and Kiswahili) Cell: +256 752 62 84 06 Email: uhspauganda@gmail.com HIV/AIDS Control Bill 2009 unfairly targets minorities Kampala: May 19, 2010… Uganda Health and Science Press Association is concerned about the spirit and implications behind the HIV/AIDS Control Bill 2009 tabled this morning in the Parliament of Uganda. Whereas it is true that Uganda needs a formal policy or legal mechanism to manage the pandemic, the spirit behind the “Control” bill is an attempt to target minority groups, including LGBTI, Commercial sex workers and People Living with HIV/AIDS as the problem fuelling the pandemic whose prevalence statistics are stagnated at 6.4% in the last few years. Rather than seeking “to control”, Uganda should be looking at “Managing” the pandemic, in which the propose...

( Minorities do not cause drug shortages in hospitals. corruption does) The law will drive people, especially minorities underground; in the face of possible prosecution and forced disclosure, most people will hide way,(shy away). There would be no reason to take tests in fear of prosecution. Besides, Uganda already has laws on the penal code that criminalizes sex work and LGBTI community. By Kikonyogo N.Kivumbi At about 6.7%prevalence rate of Hiv/aids in the general population( NAFOPHANU estimates), Uganda government is stuck with the statistics for some years now. In an effort to appease donors and electorate for the 2011 general presidential campaign in which the current President Yoweri Museveni is contesting the fourth term after 23 years in power, the blame for the stuck statistics has been delivered to the door step of minority groups in the country. The thinking in the ruling party is that sex workers and LGBTI are the problem why the rates are not going down. Then another...

(Monitor Story- www.monitor.co.ug) Kampala A committee of Cabinet has made recommendations that could end Ndorwa West MP David Bahati’s ( pictured above) proposal to have a separate law punishing homosexuality in Uganda. The recommendations, which Saturday Monitor has seen, come close to dismissing Mr Bahati’s draft legislation. The committee, put together to advise the government after Mr Bahati’s draft legislation left Uganda condemned by sections of the international community, looked deep into the language, tone and relevance of the draft legislation, dissecting every clause to determine its usefulness. It was not clear who wrote the draft legislation, the committee’s report says, noting that the document had “technical defects in form and content”. The result left the draft legislation almost bare, as nearly all of the clauses were found either redundant, repetitive of existing laws, or even useless. In fact, the committee found that only “Clause 13” of the draft legislation, abou...

Against the bill: teleevangelist Joyce Meyer The statement from the Ministries follows From: Joyce Meyer Ministries Date: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 3:03 PM It is increasingly evident that the proposed “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” introduced in the Ugandan parliament is a profoundly offensive, dangerous and disturbing attack on the very foundation of individual liberties and human rights afforded not only to the good citizens of Uganda, but on the at-large global community. If enacted, this hostile legislation will also further, and adversely, serve as a major setback in the global health efforts to combat Uganda’s AIDS epidemic and reduce the record-high infection rates among the country’s HIV population, an already at-risk community that could be further ostracized, threatened, and targeted as potential criminals. Our missions and ministry message has always been to teach that the Word of God is about helping people – all people – learn that God loves them and has a purpose for their live...

Guess they didnt teach him to show porn in Church there....! visit this link to read university statement.....http://www.pbu.edu/news/100326ssempa.htm Response to Ugandan Pastor Recently, Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa made statements concerning public policy regarding homosexuals in that nation. Philadelphia Biblical University (PBU) categorically condemns any position that calls for violence against human beings created in the image and likeness of God, or violent solutions to socially controversial issues. While PBU holds to a biblically defined position regarding human sexuality, to call for such action clearly violates the teaching of the Bible, and the principles and practices taught at PBU. Ssempa did earn a graduate degree from PBU in 1994. Ssempa also received an honorary degree from PBU in 2006 for his ministry of compassion to HIV/AIDS victims in his native land. The University was not aware at that time of Ssempa’s recently expressed views. His present publicly stated positio...

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Rev. Rizi Nasele Timane (in picture)' and the Gospel Truth Music Ministry (http://www.rizigospel.com) are voicing their support for Uganda's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their distress at the new perils that the community faces under the country's proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda, but the proposed legislation would create a new offense of "aggravated homosexuality," punishable by death. An extraterritorial clause would require that even Ugandans living in other countries be extradited to face prosecution for offenses listed within the bill. The bill also proposes jail sentences for failure to report a homosexual act and for "promoting homosexuality," which could cover the activities of human rights groups, including organizations working on HIV and AIDS prevention. Christianity is the most widespread religion in Uganda. In an open lette...

By Ariel Rubin/Guest Blogger Uganda’s anti-homosexuality bill has received considerable international attention, particularly concerning its harsh criminal sanctions, but another piece of repressive legislation threatens to criminalize the activities of another maligned group: the vibrant independent press in this East African nation at the confluence of Africa’s largest lake (Victoria) and the world’s longest river (Nile). Uganda is not above putting restrictions on journalists and politicians deemed as opposing President Yoweri Museveni, the former guerilla leader who has ruled the country since 1986. The police here have a special “media crimes” division. One journalist, Andrew Mwenda, is battling more than 20 separate criminal cases alleging libel, sectarianism, and sedition for his reporting. Under the Ugandan 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act, journalists risk lengthy prison sentences or death while reporting on the activities of groups the government deems “terrorists.” Now, it appears th...

March 5, 2010 The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) applauds efforts by people living with HIV in Uganda to stand up against the proposed “Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009”, and urges HIV service providers in the country to join them by making a clear, collective public statement condemning the proposed legislation and calling for its immediate dissolution. If enacted, this legislation will have a profoundly detrimental impact upon the effort to address HIV in Uganda. Implementing organizations dedicated to delivering HIV & AIDS prevention, treatment and care services in Uganda have contributed enormously to fighting the epidemic on the ground, and as such are uniquely positioned to speak out against the bill - especially those implementers receiving significant funding from large global donors like PEPFAR and the Global Fund. Moreover, implementers have an obligation to the health and safety of all people in the communities they serve, including gay men and other men who have sex...

Statement from Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights The Urgent Action Fund-Africa, a Pan-African women’s human rights organisation, notes with great concern Uganda’s draconian Anti-homosexuality Bill 2009, the ongoing parliamentary debates and the suggested amendments to the Bill. We acknowledge that people have different personal persuasions on the question of homosexuality. However, we are deeply concerned that by enacting this law, the State will set a precedent where anyone different from the mainstream can be legally demonized, stripped of their dignity and rights and persecuted, at a time when we seek to establish democratic societies of tolerance and equality. There will be no limit to a state’s tyranny and manipulation of laws to oppress any group of people considered different, dissenting or a minority. We underscore the fundamental principle that people are different in their beliefs, orientation and opinions YET equal in their rights, dignity and worth. UAF-Africa ass...

Pope Benedict XVI met with the Roman Catholic hierarchy of Uganda at the Vatican last Friday and delivered a speech summing up what he saw as the main tasks of the church in the East African nation -- but made no mention of the draconian anti-homosexuality bill that has prompted an international outcry. The legislation pending in the Ugandan parliament provides for life imprisonment for homosexuals and even execution in some cases -- hence its nickname, the "kill the gays" bill -- and for jail terms for those who do not out those they believe to be homosexuals. The bill has not only sparked international protests, but also finger-pointing at conservative American Christians who have been seen as giving aid and comfort to Ugandan Christians and politicians who want to toughen Uganda's law criminalizing homosexuality. As we wrote here, the protests and media coverage have prompted a number of American Christians, mainly evangelicals and a few Catholics with longstanding tie...

Hon: DAVID Bahati, the MP who tabled the anti homosexuality Bill Bahati bill a curse to press freedom, prison services By Kikonyogo Ngatya Kivumbi A KEY prosecution witness in a rape case against Forum for Democratic Change ( FDC) leader rtd Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye, told a high court judge in Kampala prior to the 2006 presidential elections during cross-examination, that the accused would “invite her to his home in Bombo every weekend and raped her.” It was a suspicious case from the start, with the accused citing sabotage, political intrigue to stop him from standing, and he was later acquitted. But the witness statement changed the entire course of the trial in public’s eye when it was reported in the media. The media was able to report it without fear or favour, because court proceedings, like parliamentary debates are privileged- meaning they can be reported exactly as they are spoken out. And this is the most crucial aspect of press freedom in judicial proceedings that the ...

U.S. President Barack Obama has sharply criticized an anti-gay bill in Uganda that would impose the death penalty in some cases. Speaking Thursday, President Obama described the measure as "odious." He said that while people may disagree about gay marriage, it is "unconscionable" to target gays and lesbians in a dehumanizing way. Mr. Obama made the remarks during a prayer breakfast in Washington hosted by an evangelical group known as "The Family." Ugandan politician David Bahati, who activists say is a member of The Family, proposed the controversial legislation. Earlier this week, a group of 200 U.S. lawmakers introduced a resolution condemning the proposal in Uganda, saying it would set a troubling precedent. Supporters of the measure in Uganda have dismissed the outside criticism as a new form of colonialism. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni recently said the bill has become a "foreign policy" issue. He has urged lawmakers to craft a meas...

Friends, ignore Pator Pat Robertson and heed this call. As journalists, we have a responsibility to support those in pain with our actions and intentions. AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, calls on community radio broadcasters worldwide to rally in support of the people of Haiti, following the massive earthquake that has killed thousands of people and destroyed essential infrastructure. It is estimated one third of the country's 9 million population have been affected, tens of thousands have died and many more are injured and without adequate medical support. The earthquake has caused extensive damage to communication systems and other vital services. Among the many people directly affected are community media workers and their families. AMARC is conducting an urgent assessment of the status of community broadcasting in the areas affected and is working to mobilize resources and technical assistance. AMARC estimates that at least 12 community radio stati...

Pastor Martin Ssempa, pictured right, a fanatical,extremist and radical evangelical "christian" is reported in local media today that he would mobilise "at least a million Ugandans for a demonstration, scheduled for February 17 in Kampala" to force government to pass the anti homosexuality bill 2009. This pastor,who has credentials of stiffling media freedom in Uganda , with support of fanatical groups in America wants gays to be hanged. He has in the past tried to burry the red pepper, a tabloid with numerous court cases,which were all thrown out.How sad. As this bill targets the media by name, we are reproducing the entire text. vISIT THIS LINK for reports of the unnecessary demonstration http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/844484/-/whc52

Here is the text of the BILL HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION AND CONTROL BILL, 2009 ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES Clauses PART 1 – PRELIMINARY 1. Commencement 2. Interpretation PART II – PREVENTION OF HIV 3. Reasonable care to be taken to avoid transmission of HIV PART III - HIV AND AIDS COUNSELLING AND TESTING 4. Pre-test and post-test HIV counselling 5. Counselling to be conducted by trained HIV counsellors 6. Nature of pre-test counselling 7. Nature of post-test Counselling 8. Continuous counselling 9. HIV testing services 10. Voluntary HIV Testing 11. Persons incapable of giving informed consent to HIV testing 12. Consent to test for HIV may be dispensed with 13. HIV testing for purposes of criminal proceedings. 14. Routine HIV testing. 15. HIV testing under a court order 16. Provision of appropriate treatment to HIV positive pregnant woman. 17. Testing of the new born child exposed to HIV. 18. Effi...