Uganda's constitutional court has nullified a recently enacted antigay law that had been derided as draconian by human-rights activists and Western governments. A panel of five judges ruled that the parliament had passed the bill without the necessary number of lawmakers present, rendering it null and void.
"The speaker violated the parliamentary rules of procedure by allowing the bill to pass without quorum," said Justice Eldad Mwangusya, who read the ruling in a packed courtroom in Kampala.
Activists hailed the overturning of the law, which sought to strengthen the already stringent punishments against homosexuality in Uganda.
"Today lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Ugandans, along with all human-rights defenders in Uganda, have scored a decisive victory against the politics of scapegoating and the politics of hate," said Asia Russell, director of international policy at Health GAP, a Ugandan health advocacy group.
But David Bahati, a lawmaker from the ruling National Resistance Movement party, told The Wall Street Journal that parliament and the attorney general intended to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
And, given that the law was struck down on a technicality, parliament could still pass the law a second time with a proper quorum.
While criticized by activists and Western governments, the law has been widely popular in Uganda, strongly supported by conservative and religious groups.
The government, however, remains under intense international pressure and the ruling party may be unwilling to reintroduce the bill to avoid further straining relations with some Western aid donors, according to political analysts.
Last month, the U.S. joined the list of donors including the World Bank, Norway and the Netherlands who have punished Kampala by freezing up to $120 million of aid to protest the law.
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