A coalition of HIV/AIDS activists has asked parliament to amend some clauses in the HIV/AIDS Protection and Control Bill 2010 before enacted into law. The activists said the HIV Prevention and Control Bill 2010 in its current form has clauses that will deter the fight against the epidemic. The amendments they want include removing mandatory testing, mandatory disclosure and criminalization. They also want the title of the Bill changed to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Management Bill. “Policy makers should treat this matter with urgency,” said Stella Kentutsi the Executive Director, National Forum of People Living with HIV/AIDS Networks in Uganda.
Nigeria's anti-gay law, condemned by US, Britain and Canada, will harm HIV response, says UNAIDS
Local and international groups fighting AIDS warned on Tuesday that a new Nigerian law criminalizing same-sex marriage and gay organizations will jeopardize the fight against the deadly disease. Activist Dorothy Aken’Ova said the new legislation, already dubbed the “Jail the Gays” law, will endanger and even criminalize programs fighting HIV / AIDS in the gay community. Aken’Ova is executive director of Nigeria’s International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights based in Minna, Niger state.
The UN agency to fight AIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria expressed “deep concern that access to HIV services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will be severely affected by the new law in Nigeria, further criminalizing LGBT people, organizations and activities, as well as people who support them.”
UNAIDS said the law could harm Jonathan’s own presidential initiative to fight AIDS, started a year ago. Nigeria has the second largest HIV epidemic globally, with an estimated 3.4 million people living with HIV. The disease affects many more gay men than heterosexuals, with 2010 statistics estimating national HIV prevalence at 4 percent compared to 17 percent among gay men, according to UNAIDS.
President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesman confirmed Monday that he had signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act on Jan. 7, providing penalties of up to 14 years in jail for gay marriage and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for membership or encouragement of gay clubs, societies and organizations. The U.S., Britain and Canada have swiftly condemned the law, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying Monday that it “dangerously restricts freedom” of expression and association of all Nigerians.
Human rights activists reported that dozens of gay men were being arrested in northern Nigeria in an apparent response to the law. The law also criminalizes people and groups who support “the registration, operation and sustenance of gay clubs, societies and organizations, processions or meetings in Nigeria.” Those convicted could be jailed for 10 years.
Even before it was the passed, the law was being used to persecute gays, Aken’Ova said. In Bauchi state, she said police entrapped four gay men and tortured them into naming others. She said the police have drawn up a list of 168 wanted gay men, of whom 38 have been arrested recently. An AIDS counsellor told the Associated Press he helped get bail for the men. He spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear he would be arrested as well.
Jonathan, Nigeria’s president, has not publicly expressed his views on homosexuality. But his spokesman, Reuben Abati, told The Associated Press on Monday night, “This is a law that is in line with the people’s cultural and religious inclination. So it is a law that is a reflection of the beliefs and orientation of Nigerian people … Nigerians are pleased with it.”
Uganda: New Anti-Homosexuality Bill a setback for Uganda’s HIV response
The draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill passed by Uganda’s parliament on 20 December would deliver a major blow to the response to HIV/AIDS if it was enacted by President Yoweri Museveni, activists have warned.
Those found guilty of homosexual acts can be jailed for up to 14 years under the new law, a sentence that increases to life in “aggravated” cases, such as those committed by an HIV positive person, or those involving minors, the disabled and serious offenders.
Civil society activists fear that high-risk groups such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and sex workers – whose HIV prevalence is 13.7 and 33 percent respectively – will see their already limited access to prevention and treatment further eroded.
Amnesty International called the law “a grave assault on human rights [which] makes a mockery of the Ugandan constitution.
“President Museveni should avoid the trap of scapegoating a vulnerable minority in the interests of short-term political gain,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
“He should recognize that this repugnant bill is of no benefit to Ugandans – that it only serves to jeopardize basic rights – and reject it.”
The United States government has also called for the bill not to be enacted.
African HIV criminalisation achievements and challenges highlighted at ICASA 2013
The African continent has more countries with overly broad and vague HIV-specific laws relating to HIV non-disclosure, exposure and/or transmission than any other global region, nearly all of which have been enacted in the past decade.
Although North America is the continent with the most known prosecutions, 26 African countries have overly broad and/ or vague HIV-specific criminal laws with a further three countries considering new HIV-specific criminal laws. This is worrying and disappointing given the growing evidence base and consensus of international agencies that such laws are counterproductive to HIV prevention efforts and generally fail to deliver ‘justice’.
Although there are few known prosecutions the majority of those prosecuted have been women – who are usually the first in a couple to know their HIV status due to routine antenatal testing and who are often erroneously accused of bringing HIV into a relationship.
In addition, South Africa recently prosecuted alleged criminal HIV transmission as attempted murder despite no evidence of intent to harm. (Read the judgement from the High Court of South Africa on alleged HIV exposure being attempted murder here.)
However, there have been some positive legal changes brought about by local advocacy supported by international civil society and UN agencies. Since 2010, at least four countries – Congo, Guinea, Senegal and Togo – have revised their existing HIV-related legislation or adopted new legislation that restrict use of criminal law to cases of intentional transmission.
And more recently advocacy in Malawi and Nigeria has resulted in the removal of overly broad HIV-specific criminal statutes from draft omnibus HIV Bills.
View the poster below or download the A4 double-sided printable version of the poster here.
Tanzania: Official urges government leaders to create mandatory HIV testing law
A Ward Executive Officer in Mkanyenge ward, in Kishapu District, Sima Philbert, has urged the government to come up with a law for mandatory HIV testing in order to effectively combat the pandemic.
http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/25417-call-for-law-for-mandatory-hiv-testing
Australia: South Australia Government plans mandatory HIV testing following blood or saliva exposure to police
ANY offender whose blood or saliva comes into contact with a police officer will be compelled to undergo a mandatory blood test, under new laws to be introduced by the State Government. Premier Jay Weatherill will today outline the measure – and another significant community safety initiative involving police – at the Police Association of SA annual delegates conference.
The move will ensure any officer faced with the risk of contracting a communicable disease is made aware of the possible threat much faster, instead of having to rely on their own test results – often many months later. Mr Weatherill said police needed to be protected. “We know that there are some instances where police officers are exposed to infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C or HIV when an officer is arresting, restraining or detaining an offender,” he said.
“These laws mean that if an officer is exposed to a risk of contracting these diseases, the offender will be required to undertake a blood test. While officers are already blood-tested in these situations, some diseases are not detectable for months. This means officers can be left waiting for a considerable amount of time, which can be stressful for them and their families. Test results from the offender will provide early information to reduce the anxiety about risk of infection.”
Police say that over the past year, there were 279 incidents where officers came into contact with blood, 118 incidents involving officers being spat on and two occasions where an officer suffered a needle-stick injury.
Southern African leaders warned that mandatory HIV testing is both a violation of human rights and a hinderance to public health
Windhoek, 22 August 2013 – The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), a partnership of 73 non-governmental organizations working in southern and east Africa, has noted with concern reports that several SADC leaders lauded mandatory HIV testing as a viable strategy to curb the spread of HIV during a meeting of Heads of State and Government on AIDS Watch Africa, held on 17 August on the sidelines of the 33rd SADC summit in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The battle of civil society against reinstatement of mandatory HIV testing legislation in Greece
The day after he was appointed, Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis brought back in to force health regulation 39A on July 1, 2013. The regulation forces mandatory testing for HIV and other communicable diseases. It specifies certain groups like people who inject drugs, sex workers and undocumented migrants as a priority, with the argument that this is in the interest of public safety.
Uganda: Advocates oppose mandatory HIV testing, disclosure of status to partners, of pregnant women in draft HIV law
Civil society organisations have opposed a proposal in the HIV Prevention and Control Bill providing for mandatory testing of pregnant women and others. The proposal of the coalition of civil society organisations, led by the Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS, was presented during a dialogue on the Bill with members of the Uganda Parliamentary Women Association at Protea Hotel in Kampala yesterday.
The meeting aimed at assisting the legislators in coming up with a common position on the Bill to be forwarded to the committee on HIV/AIDS under whose docket the Bill falls for onward submission to Parliament for approval. The civil society organisations and activists contended that international standards require HIV/AIDS testing to be confidential accompanied by counselling and to be conducted with voluntary and informed consent.
They further argued that mandatory testing of drug users and workers would discourage them from seeking treatment and care. The civil society organisations are also against a provision that allows a medical practitioner to disclose HIV test results without the consent of the affected person. “Mandatory disclosure obligations run the risk of deterring people, especially women, from getting tested,” they stated, arguing that where due caution is not exercised, informing a woman’s partner of her HIV status may expose her to the risk of violence, eviction, disinheritance and severe abuses.
The MPs agreed to do further consultations on the Bill and to study the law enacted by the East African Community assembly on the subject. The Bill has also been heavily criticised by international human rights organisations.
Uganda: Female lawmakers propose compulsory couples testing to counter proposal for mandatory testing and disclosure to partners of pre-natally tested women in draft HIV law
Female lawmakers have proposed amendments to the controversial 2010 Prevention of HIV/Aids Bill, which if adopted, will make it compulsory for male partners to test for HIV/Aids with their spouses during antenatal care visits. The MPs also proposed that negligent health workers who cause the transmission of HIV/Aids to others while in their line of duty be liable to a five-year jail penalty. The Bill, which seeks to criminalise people who intentionally infect others with HIV/Aids, is before the Parliamentary Aids Committee for consideration.
The Committee began fresh consultations on the proposed law yesterday after the 8th Parliament failed to pass it. The MPs, in consultation with the hospices of the Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/Aids , during a workshop yesterday said women have always fallen victims of sexual offences. They say many men have not been going for routine HIV/Aids counselling and testing with their spouses.
Ms Betty Amongi, the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association chairperson, said the proposed law mandates health workers to disclose the status of tested pregnant women to their husbands. “In order to prevent domestic violence and ensure stable marriages, we are proposing that both couples must test together so that they jointly receive the results,” Ms Amongi said.
Ms Amongi said women shy away from attending antenatal clinics for fear of losing their marriages if their status is disclosed to their spouses without them testing together. Ms Noreen Kareeba, the founder of The Aids Support Organisation, urged the government to invest in voluntary testing and purchase of ARVs. Currently, the Ministry of Health programme for prevention of Aids requires that tests are conducted for pregnant women to reduce the risk of being abused.