Today, the ICJ made a submission to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in advance of Committee’s examination of Uganda’s initial periodic report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In its submission, the organization drew the Committee’s attention to:
a) the detrimental impact of the adoption and enforcement of the Anti- Homosexuality Act, 2014;
b) the effect of pre-existing and extant criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct; and
c) the introduction of the Prohibition of Promotion of Unnatural Sexual Practices Bill, on the respect for and the protection and realization of certain Covenant rights.
The ICJ considers that those laws violate – or would violate if adopted in the case of the above-mentioned Bill – the following Covenant rights of Uganda’s population generally, and in particular of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in the country:
a) the principle of non-discrimination;
b) the right to work and to just and favourable conditions of work;
c) the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing;
d) the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; and
e) the right to education.
Each section features a number of recommendations.
Uganda-ICJ CESCR submission-Advocacy-non legal submission-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)