Uganda: Anti-Homosexuality Act

Lord Benyon Excerpts

Thursday 9th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Cashman]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Uganda regarding its Anti-Homosexuality Act.

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Benyon) (Con)]

My Lords, Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act has increased violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people. The UK has made its opposition clear to all levels of the Ugandan Government. On 3 April, the Ugandan Constitutional Court struck down some provisions. However, the legislation remains, including the death penalty for so-called aggravated homosexuality. The Deputy Foreign Secretary met the Ugandan Justice Minister on 3 April and underlined the importance of ensuring that people are free from persecution regardless of sexuality and stressed our concern at this legislation.

[Lord Cashman (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Government on the action they have taken so far, but they can and must do more. The Ugandan law criminalises even those who supply services to LGBT people and, as the Minister said, people face the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality or 20 years in prison merely for being homosexual. The situation is dire and worsening, with arrests, people going into hiding, blackmail and service providers closing. Therefore, I ask the Government to mirror the actions taken by the United States, Canada and the World Bank: targeted sanctions on named individuals and on access to individual assets held in the UK and an immediate pause on development support that could be used by discriminatory actors. Finally, they should call on Uganda to end implementing the law with forced anal examinations. Such barbaric human rights abuses must be vigorously denounced.

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I will start with the last point: I entirely agree with the noble Lord, and I thank him for all the work he has done on this and many other related issues. This is an appalling situation for minorities in Uganda and is part of a pattern that, unfortunately, we are seeing across many sub-Saharan African countries. No one in Uganda can be under any illusions about the UK’s position on this. We have raised it at every level of government and we will continue to do so. We do not discuss openly what plans we have on sanctions, but we will look at all opportunities to continue to raise this and ensure that the Government of Uganda, the Parliament of Uganda and those proposing this legislation understand how devastating it is and what enormous damage has been done to Uganda’s reputation in the world. I will continue to work with the noble Lord and others to ensure we are taking every action we can.

[Lord Fowler (CB)]

My Lords, I entirely support what the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, just said about Uganda, but should we not also be concerned about the position in many other countries around the world? There is a terrible worldwide toll of over 600,000 deaths a year from HIV and AIDS. Should we not recognise that the threat of unjustified heavy sentences can add to the problem by preventing people coming forward for treatment and add to the stigma that is already around AIDS?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

The noble Lord has done so much work in this area, and of course we agree with him. The problem with this kind of legislation is that it deters people from seeking the medical help that they need for what is now a curable disease, maybe to the point where it is not curable for them because they have been put off seeking the support they need. The UK will continue, through its ODA programme, to make sure it supports proper access to medical services. That will be dealt with on an absolutely fair and open basis and not in the discriminatory way that these laws promote.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords, will the Minister not agree that one thing that could make a really big difference to this appalling situation would be a change in regime and free and fair elections? He will have noted that the European Parliament concluded that the last elections were neither free nor fair and, in fact, were violent. What more can we do to ensure there is multi-party democracy? Will he find time to meet the outstanding new leader of the opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, who is a brave young politician who deserves our support?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I thank my noble friend. We will work with any Government of Uganda; they are important allies and members of the Commonwealth, and they are doing important work elsewhere in Africa for peace and security. However, it is only through having a good, friendly relationship with a country like that that we can state how appalled we are at legislation such as this. Obviously, we want to promote free and fair elections at every stage, but the Government of Uganda are the Government of Uganda. They are doing great things in support of peace and security in Africa, which we support, but this is an unacceptable regression on freedoms and personal rights.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, it is the voice not only of government but of civil society that needs to be heard. I have welcomed the Government’s contribution to the Commonwealth Equality Network in the past, but we can do more to ensure faith voices and trade union voices are heard. What is the Minister’s department doing to work with the international trade union movement, which has very good policies on this, to influence people in those countries so it is seen as not just a UK Government action but a civil society action that is appalled at these laws?

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I think I can reassure the noble Lord. I met with our high commissioner to Uganda this week, and she gave me details of many of the projects we are doing with civil society organisations. For example, some of our overseas development assistance money goes to fund grass-roots efforts to shift attitudes on gender-based violence. There are many other things that we are doing. He is right that many faith-based organisations are key to this. One of the unfortunate drivers of this legislation has been promoted by an evangelical view of Christianity, and not one, for many of us would who ascribe to Christian values, of compassion and kindness; it seems to be one of quite the reverse. I know that many faith-based organisations want to have nothing to do with that and want to try to correct it. We will work with anybody who seeks to support people affected by this legislation.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

I agree with the Minister. On a visit to Kampala before the pandemic, I met with the leadership of the Anglican community—my visit was about the abolition of the death penalty—who said that they would support my work on the death penalty, as long as I did not campaign on LGBT rights; the death penalty is now supported by that community. I am grateful that Lambeth Palace has disassociated itself from that. Will the Minister agree that the development partnership agreement the UK has with Uganda, which includes the sentence

“We will also use a full range of tools to defend democratic norms and the rights of excluded groups, for example the LGBT+ community”,


is no longer operable because those groups, which we have been supporting, now face the very criminal penalties that the noble Lord, Lord Cashman, indicated? Will the Minister further agree that our relationship with Uganda cannot continue as it has? We need a formal review of our development relationship, and we need to state to the Government of Uganda that, in our view, their Act is inconsistent with the Commonwealth charter. We cannot carry on as we have before.

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

Our bilateral ODA, which is due to increase quite considerably this financial year, goes not to the Government of Uganda but to very specific areas of need, such as strengthening health systems and empowering women. We prevented 2.4 million unintended pregnancies through family planning advice, increased modern contraceptive use by 5.7%, and supported 600,000 women to access electricity through GET FiT, our renewable energy programme. Crucially, as I said earlier, we are funding grass-roots efforts to shift attitudes on gender-based violence and engaging women’s rights groups to defend against discrimination. Our ODA programmes are constantly under review, but it is important that we continue to support those kinds of efforts in Uganda and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa where we see a regression on LGBTQ rights.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

My Lords, the Government of Uganda are a member of the Commonwealth, as are so many other nations that, unfortunately, have very similar policies. As has been mentioned, the Commonwealth charter commits Uganda to compliance with international human rights laws, in particular relating to equality. Will the Minister and his department do what they can to ensure this important topic is put on the agenda for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which is in Samoa in October?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I thank the noble Lord for that very important point. I spoke to the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth on this subject and we have agreed to continue to discuss it in the lead-up to CHOGM. We want to make sure that human rights and the very values that underpin the Commonwealth are reflected in the work of that important meeting.