Uganda court dismisses first anti-gay law case

NAIROBI, KENYA -A Ugandan court has dismissed the first case brought under an anti-gay law seen as one of the harshest in the world, a lawyer told AFP on Tuesday.

The decision was welcomed by rights campaigners.

The Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 imposes penalties of up to life in prison for consensual same-sex relations and has provisions that make "aggravated homosexuality" an offence punishable by death.

The first case brought under the law, three months after it was passed, involved a man, now aged 25, accused of "unlawful sexual intercourse with... (a) male adult aged 41", an offence punishable by death.

He spent 350 days in custody.

The charges were amended in January 2024 to "unnatural offences of having carnal knowledge against the order of nature", which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, his lawyer Douglas Mawadri told AFP.

But on Monday, the court dismissed the case, saying the accused was "mentally unstable and does not understand the trial process", Mawadri said.

The defence argued he had developed psychosis and schizophrenia as a result of his detention.

LGBTQ activist Richard Lusimbo said the decision was "a major breakthrough which should have come out earlier".

"Detaining someone for over a year without trial is injustice at its worst," Lusimbo told AFP.

However, Human Rights Watch's Oryem Nyeko, who authored a report about the consequences of the law last year, cautioned against celebration, saying the act itself was "still in force".

"That means anyone could still be arrested and charged under those rights-violating laws. They still need to be repealed," he told AFP.

He also said the case exposed Uganda's "massive" issue with pre-trial detention -- "an issue for many years that needs to be addressed".

Uganda, a conservative and predominantly Christian country in east Africa, is notorious for its intolerance of same-sex relations.

The anti-gay law triggered outrage among rights campaigners and condemnation from the United Nations and Western countries.

The World Bank suspended funding to the country, although this resumed in mid-2025.