Assistant Secretary of State Meets with Advocacy Organizations on Uganda “Anti-Homosexuality” Bill

On Friday, December 18, HRC joined representatives from approximately 30 other advocacy organizations to meet with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, on the proposed anti-homosexuality bill that is currently being debated in Uganda. The meeting was organized by the Public Affairs Bureau to highlight the U.S. government’s efforts and plans for stopping the bill in Uganda, and to invite comment and questions by those in attendance.

The meeting began with Carson explaining that the U.S. condemns the proposed legislation in Uganda because the bill is a draconian measure that would violate basic human rights. He detailed the conversations that the State Department has held with individuals at the highest levels of government in Uganda, including two conversations that he has had with President Museveni of Uganda. In his conversations with Museveni, Carson was promised that Museveni would stop this bill from moving forward. This promise by Museveni is critical; however, it is troublesome that a member of Museveni’s own political party introduced the bill in the Ugandan Parliament and that Museveni’s own Ethics Minister has spoken out in support of the bill.

When pressed about the possibility of penalizing Uganda by restricting assistance to the country under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Carson made it clear that the U.S. would not end HIV/AIDS treatment of Ugandans. He emphasized that the U.S. has a moral obligation to continue the HIV/AIDS treatment it initiates with individuals abroad. At the meeting, a representative from the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator in the State Department suggested that more PEPFAR resources may need to go to NGOs, and not the Ugandan government, considering the pending legislation.

Carson also addressed questions about Ugandans who may become asylum seekers if the law passes. He promised to follow-up with the appropriate government officials to ensure that appropriate plans can be made to assist such individuals.

Significantly, this meeting began to flesh out the groundwork for a larger effort by the State Department to combat the criminalization of homosexuality by other countries. Carson indicated that the U.S. is currently working to convince Rwanda to remove a provision criminalizing homosexuality from a pending Rwandan bill.

Moreover, Carson explained that he would soon send a cable out to U.S. embassies to ask embassy officials to report on the anti-LGBT criminal laws in their host countries. In addition to this request, he plans to ask each embassy for a report on the embassies’ efforts to forward the U.S. policy of opposing criminalization of consensual sexual conduct of adults. At this time, it is not clear if Carson only intends to target countries in Africa with these requests, but HRC supports a broader, global effort to combat criminalization of consensual sexual conduct of adults.

Additionally, Carson explained the State Department plans to begin addressing anti-LGBT legislation, like that proposed in Uganda and Rwanda, in the State Department’s annual human rights report.

The meeting was a positive sign of the level of engagement with which the State Department is addressing anti-LGBT legislation abroad, and the meeting signaled that the State Department has a broader plan for addressing such legislation outside of the current situation in Uganda.