Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 16:36:24 GMT -5
Daily HIV/AIDS Report
Global Challenges | Uganda Lawmakers Drafting Bill That Seeks Death
Penalty for HIV-Positive People Who Perform Sexual Acts With Minors
Ugandan lawmakers are drafting a bill that if passed would seek the death
penalty for HIV-positive people who perform sexual acts with minors with
or without consent, South Africa's Mail and Guardian reports. Elioda
Tumwesigye, chair of the parliamentary committee on HIV/AIDS, in August
said if the bill is passed, HIV-positive people who perform sexual acts
with people under age 18 would face a felony charge called "aggravated
defilement" and will be executed if convicted. Some human rights groups in
the country say the bill is "off target," adding that instead of
emphasizing capital punishment, more effort go toward increasing HIV/AIDS
awareness campaigns, the Mail and Guardian reports. According to the Mail
and Guardian, under current Ugandan law, people who are found guilty of
rape and defilement can be sentenced to death, but judges can choose to
give an offender a lesser sentence and no one to date has been sentenced
to death for the crime.
Some groups opposed to the bill worry that if capital punishment becomes
mandatory, the problem will be driven underground. Livingstone Sewanyana,
executive director of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, said, "When
you subscribe to the death penalty, you give an unacceptable excuse to the
state to forfeit or forget its cardinal function of maintaining law and
order." He added, "For a state whose duty is to protect, to put emphasis
on executing citizens ... would be abdicating its responsibility" to
ensure crime prevention and child protection. Ugandan lawmakers in the
coming parliamentary session will debate whether to make the death penalty
mandatory and also will discuss whether HIV-positive people who rape
children should be given the same punishment as those who rape teenagers,
the Mail and Guardian reports (Matsamura, Mail and Guardian, 9/14).
(source: Kaiser Network)
Global Challenges | Uganda Lawmakers Drafting Bill That Seeks Death
Penalty for HIV-Positive People Who Perform Sexual Acts With Minors
Ugandan lawmakers are drafting a bill that if passed would seek the death
penalty for HIV-positive people who perform sexual acts with minors with
or without consent, South Africa's Mail and Guardian reports. Elioda
Tumwesigye, chair of the parliamentary committee on HIV/AIDS, in August
said if the bill is passed, HIV-positive people who perform sexual acts
with people under age 18 would face a felony charge called "aggravated
defilement" and will be executed if convicted. Some human rights groups in
the country say the bill is "off target," adding that instead of
emphasizing capital punishment, more effort go toward increasing HIV/AIDS
awareness campaigns, the Mail and Guardian reports. According to the Mail
and Guardian, under current Ugandan law, people who are found guilty of
rape and defilement can be sentenced to death, but judges can choose to
give an offender a lesser sentence and no one to date has been sentenced
to death for the crime.
Some groups opposed to the bill worry that if capital punishment becomes
mandatory, the problem will be driven underground. Livingstone Sewanyana,
executive director of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, said, "When
you subscribe to the death penalty, you give an unacceptable excuse to the
state to forfeit or forget its cardinal function of maintaining law and
order." He added, "For a state whose duty is to protect, to put emphasis
on executing citizens ... would be abdicating its responsibility" to
ensure crime prevention and child protection. Ugandan lawmakers in the
coming parliamentary session will debate whether to make the death penalty
mandatory and also will discuss whether HIV-positive people who rape
children should be given the same punishment as those who rape teenagers,
the Mail and Guardian reports (Matsamura, Mail and Guardian, 9/14).
(source: Kaiser Network)