Biden Threatens Uganda With Sanctions Over Anti-LGBTQ Law

Biden Threatens Uganda With Sanctions Over Anti-LGBTQ Law

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2023) US President Joe Biden condemned Uganda's new anti-LGBTQ law on Monday and warned about possible sanctions against the country.

"We are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption," Biden said in a statement

The president called the enactment of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act "a tragic violation" of human rights that "jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country".

The National Security Council was directed to evaluate the implications of the new law on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda. Biden recalled that the US government was investing nearly $1 billion annually in the country.

On Monday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni approved his government's anti-LGBTQ law. The legislation, considered to be one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, was approved by the Ugandan parliament earlier in May. For some violations, it provides for the death penalty, while "propaganda of homosexuality" is punishable by 20 years in prison.