By Norman S. Miwambo

5^th Sept 2011: The Commonwealth Association has been urged to discuss the decriminalisation of homosexuality and other Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Trans-gender [LGBT] human rights issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which is due to be held in Perth, Australia, between October 28 and 30 this year.

Mr. Peter Tatchell, a human rights campaigner, who is also the Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation [PTF] wrote to British Foreign Secretary William Hague MP requesting him to lobby the CHOGM hosts Australia, to put LGBT issues on the agenda.

In the letter, a copy of which this reporter has seen, Mr Tatchell said, “…like the United Nations, the Commonwealth is a significant international forum.  CHOGM’s support for the decriminalisation of homosexuality would be a symbolic and moral victory in the long global battle for LGBT human rights”.

In response to whether it will be possible to have the much needed requirement for the Commonwealth member states to respect the rights of homosexuals in their respective countries, Mr Tachell said, “…it won’t be easy to get the issue on the CHOGM agenda and it will be even harder to get CHOGM to agree our equality demands. But we have to try.  Even if we don’t succeed this year, hopefully we’ll lay the foundations for success at the next CHOGM”.

The Commonwealth comprises 54 countries, mostly former British colonies. They share agreed values and also have a commitment to equality and human rights. However, more than 40 member states still maintain a total ban on homosexuality.  These forty-plus Commonwealth member states account for more than half of the world’s countries that still criminalise same-sex relations.

“…The penalties for homosexuality include 25 years jail in Trinidad and Tobago and 20 years plus flogging in Malaysia. Several Commonwealth countries stipulate life imprisonment: Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh and Guyana”, Mr. Tatchell said.

Last year, NRM party MP David Bahati caused a political storm in Uganda when he tabled a private members bill that proposed life imprisonment [upon conviction] for anyone found guilty of ‘the offence of homosexuality’ and death for anyone found guilty of ‘aggravated homosexuality’.  Failure to report homosexual activities would have also attracted a seven year sentence.

The Bahati Bill was widely condemned by leaders of Western countries including US President Barack Obama who described it as “odious”.  President Museveni, calling homosexuality “a decadent culture”, however lent his support to the anti-gay movement and said, “…It is a danger not only to the believers but also to the whole of Africa. It is a bad if our children become complacent and think that people who are not in order are alright”.

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, has also been criticised for not coming out to speak out against the recent arrest, jailing, and mistreatment homosexuals Cameroon.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.