10:30am Trinidad & Tobago
Hyatt IFC building, floor 6, conference room 2

Trinidad, 24 November: The Commonwealth HIV & AIDS Action Group is calling for the rejection of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality private members bill by the Ugandan government and for the Commonwealth suspension of Uganda if the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is passed.
The proposed legislation calls for among other things the execution of all HIV positive homosexual men. It stigmatises and criminalises sexual minorities and people living with HIV in Uganda and is an abuse of fundamental human rights.

The Group is asking that Commonwealth Nations recognise the incompatibility of discriminatory laws on sexual minorities and effective public health responses; these antiquated colonial laws, which only 6 out of 53 Commonwealth nations have repealed, undermine our efforts to fight the HIV epidemic and highlight the urgent need for law reform in Commonwealth member states.
“The Commonwealth comprises of 30% of the world’s population but a staggering 60% of the worlds HIV and AIDS population. Discriminatory laws such as these proposed in Uganda undermine the efforts of all who strive to fight this epidemic by stigmatizing sexual minorities, refusing to recognize their right to access HIV prevention and treatment information and violates the constitutional rights of Ugandans,” Basil Williams, Director of the HIV/AIDS Caribbean Alliance

Activists both in Uganda and worldwide are voicing grave concern about the proposed Bill which is incompatible with the Commonwealth commitment to promote equality and non-discrimination as stated in the 1971 Singapore Declaration of Principles and the Harare Commonwealth Declaration which calls for “the liberty of the individual” and “equal rights for all citizens.”

“The Commonwealth must use this escalation in discrimination and disproportionate punishment in Uganda as an opportunity to address the widespread violation of rights within its nations by condemning such laws and through the establishment of a Law Reform advisory board assist its member States to prioritize the repeal of all discriminatory laws that undermine effective HIV responses,” said Anton Kerr, Chair of Commonwealth HIV & AIDS Action Group

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities coalition (CVC) is one of the entities raising alarm about the prospect. ‘We are extremely concerned about this backward move and the impact it will have on HIV interventions. Already because of social pressure, policies and legislation, men who have sex with men are a hard to reach population. These laws directly result in among other things, fewer persons coming forward to access services” said Robert Carr, the Executive Director of CVC.

Editors Notes:
The Commonwealth Action Group (CHAAG) was established to promote and monitor the implementation of paragraph 55 in the communiqué issued after the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government in South Africa in 1999. It is a unique multidisciplinary group of Commonwealth Associations and civil society organisations that have an interest in promoting the Commonwealth response to HIV and AIDS. The group exercises every opportunity to inform and influence Commonwealth Heads of Governments and Ministers to focus more resources and attention on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and promoting the role of the Commonwealth in reversing the HIV epidemic.

Members of the press are invited to attend the press conference on Wednesday 25 November at 10:30am at the IFC Media.