- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
An influential US lawmaker on Tuesday proposed withholding aid to Uganda after the African nation's president signed a controversial new measure imposing life prison sentences for homosexuals.
"I am deeply concerned by the decision of President (Yoweri) Museveni of Uganda to sign into law the anti-homosexuality bill," Senator Patrick Leahy, the most senior member of the chamber and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
"Much of US assistance to Uganda is for the people of Uganda, including those in the Ugandan LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community whose human rights are being so tragically violated," he added.
"But we need to closely review all US assistance to Uganda, including through the World Bank and other multilateral organizations."
Washington is among Uganda's largest international donors. Congress has requested $456.3 million in aid to the impoverished nation, mostly for health programs, for 2014.
The State Department has signalled it is looking at a range of options to respond to the law, while White House spokesman Jay Carney said "we are undertaking a review of our relationship with Uganda in light of this decision."
Leahy chairs the appropriations subcommittee on State Department and foreign operations, and he has several options at his disposal, including inserting language in a 2015 aid bill that puts conditions on US assistance to Uganda.
Some lawmakers argued against cutting off aid.
"Africa is a continent in peril. The problems in Uganda with AIDS, and, you know, kids starving -- do we deny economic aid to the developing world in Africa, which could be an ally, over an issue like this?" asked Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
"I'm not so sure that's the right answer."
Fellow Senate Republican James Inhofe, who has traveled to Africa dozens of times and has strong connections to Uganda, said he was "offended" by the anti-gay law but suggested blocking aid would be counterproductive.
"We can all express ourselves on how we oppose" the new law, he told AFP. "But if we start making that the predicate for what our policy is going to be on all issues, I think that's probably the wrong way to do it."
Washington has praised Uganda for successfully tackling HIV/AIDS. The Kampala government has prioritized abstinence and faith in addition to condom use, and the UN recorded a plunge in Uganda's HIV prevalence, from 18.5 percent in 1992 to five percent in 2000.
AFP
Your Comment