MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Amnesty International has denounced three legislative acts adopted in 2013 by Uganda that resulted in human rights violations and discriminatory abuses among the local population, the statement published on the organization's website Thursday said.
"Repression in Uganda is increasingly state sanctioned through the use of blatantly discriminatory legislation that erodes rights guaranteed in the country's Constitution," Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director for East Africa Sarah Jackson said in the statement.
The statement of the organization follows the publication of a comprehensive report in which it analyzed the ramifications brought about by the Public Order Management Act, the Anti-Pornography Act and Anti-Homosexuality Act, which entered into force last year. The latter act has been repealed, according to the statement.
"Even though the Anti-Homosexuality Act has been nullified its effects are still felt and the fundamental issues have not been dealt with. People who would normally speak out in defence of others have been stigmatized and silenced,” Jackson continued.
The organization noted that these three acts are discriminatory and repressive and infringe on people's rights of free speech, assembly and association.
"The Public Order Management Act has had a devastating effect on the ability of civil society to organize, even stymying attempts to challenge the laws themselves. It essentially reverses the basic premise on which the right to freedom of assembly is based. Instead of facilitating peaceful demonstrations, it imposes wide restrictions on them," Jackson added.
Through the statement, the organization called on the authorities in Uganda to revise the "toxic laws".
