Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The death penalty for aggravated homosexuality is set to be introduced in Uganda. The country passed a Bill through its Parliament which would make it a crime to identify as LGBT, with severe penalties including life in prison for having, as it said, "gay sex". In my understanding, this is one of the harshest laws in the world targeting the LGBT community, in a country where LGBT people already face legal discrimination and, very often, mob violence. If signed into law by the President - the international understanding is that he has expressed that he will sign it into law - the Bill will violate multiple fundamental rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and association, privacy, equality and non-discrimination.

One of the most extreme features of this new Bill is it criminalises people simply for being who they are, as well as further infringing on their rights to privacy and freedoms of expression and association, which are already compromised in Uganda. Uganda is one of the counties listed as a partner country for Irish Aid on the Irish Aid website. The programme in place has been very much focused on gender equality, but there has been nothing about equality in terms of sexual orientation.

Given the state of play in Uganda, the Irish Government should commit to including equality on the grounds of sexual orientation in any future programmes. I hope other EU donor countries may consider doing the same. We should be using our international influence to resist this law due to the grave implications it will have for the lives of LGBT people in Uganda and may result in some of them losing their lives. I will be writing to the Taoiseach to convey to the President of Uganda that if he signs this Bill into law, it will be a backwards step for Uganda. It also signals, even from a basic business perspective, that it is not an open space for multinationals to do business and it is not a welcome place for people to visit. There will be people fleeing Uganda due to fear of literal death due to their sexual orientation. Ireland should be a country that is a safe haven for them. I ask that we condemn this law in this House and that we send international solidarity to members of the Ugandan LGBT community.

I wish to briefly mention, as it happened during recess, the conviction and sentencing last week of Polish activist Justyna. She was sentenced to eight months of community service for helping a pregnant woman to access abortion pills. This conviction marks a depressing low in the repression of reproductive rights in Poland and a rowback for women, girls and pregnant people. Those who defend their rights are paying an extremely high price. This case sets a dangerous precedent in Poland, where abortion is almost completely banned and offers a chilling snapshot of the consequences of these restrictive laws.

Justyna should never have been put on trial in the first place because what she did should not be a crime. She was simply supporting a woman asking for help. She was showing compassion. By defending the right to safe abortion in Poland, she has shown courage. I wish to send solidarity to Polish activists and the women and pregnant people who are going to be dreadfully impacted by those draconian laws and remind us that we have hard-fought and hard-won laws in Ireland, yet people are still travelling. We need to not only look to the activists in Poland but also to our own country.