Assad Sawey, a BBC journalist, was beaten by Egyptian police and then went on air in his bloodied shirt. When the police saw his camera, he was beaten and electrocuted with steel bars. Although he argued for transportation to a hospital, he said that other foreign journalists were being carted off in trucks to an unknown location.
(via thankyoubasedsantorum)
Hey Tumblr activists - could you please reblog this link to the Queensland floods disaster relief flood? It would be greatly appreciated, thanks. →
(via bohemianarthouse)
Ugandan MP says ‘kill the gays’ bill will soon become law
Ugandan member of Parliament (MP) David Bahati told CNN in an interview that the African nation’s controversial anti-gay bill will become law “soon.”
The bill, often referred to as the “kill the gays” bill, was introduced to the Ugandan Parliament over a year ago by Bahati, who also happens to be its sponsor. Once it becomes law it will punish homosexuality with life imprisonment or execution.
“We are very confident,” Bahati told CNN, “because this is a piece of legislation that is needed in this country to protect the traditional family here in Africa, and also protect the future of our children.”
The New Time-Table for Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009
MP David BahatiCarolyn Dunn of Radio Canada recently interviewed Ugandan MP David Bahati about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 which currently contains death penalty provisions. In the interview, MP Bahati provides more details about his intention to pass the bill he tabled before May 12, 2011 when the Ugandan Parliament recesses. Here are key excerpts from the interview:
Carolyn Dunn: Where is the bill right now?
David Bahati: The bill is with the committee…This is the legislative process of our country. There are so many bills that come to this house every month and at the time when it was supposed to be debated it was a time when we had to pass…other laws that were very, very, very urgent and we are very optimistic that in the life of this parliament before this parliament expires on the 12th of May this bill will pass.
Carolyn Dunn: Are you confident that it is going to be passed?
David Bahati: I am very, very confident that if it comes to the house it will be passed. And I am sure that the chair person of the committee, the liberal affairs committee, has assured us that it is going to be the next on the agenda. He is going to work on it and we are very confident that it will pass…All we want is to make sure the organisations that promote homosexuality are banned from this country, that we make it very difficult for people to practice homosexuality here and we cut off the money that is coming to promote this behavior and to defend the family and to protect the children.
Carolyn Dunn: Do you hope to influence other countries with this bill?
David Bahati: Well, we have seen countries like Southern Sudan, like Kenya, like Botswana they are very interested and keen on what is happening here and see that once this bill passes you are going to see so many countries adopting this similar arrangement and reviving the courage and the leadership that is needed in this world to make sure that sin of this nature is fought.
Carolyn Dunn: Are you concerned at all that western countries that supply aid money here will impose sanctions because of this.
David Bahati: I don’t think they will. They will threaten but I don’t think they will effectively do that because they know this is an issue that is dividing the world, the world is divided by it and people realize that we’re a sovereign state and as long as we do something democratically, pass it through a democratic process, I don’t see any problem with this. So it will be ridiculous.
Carolyn Dunn: Is this bill born of Evangelical Christianity, of following the Bible to the letter.
David Bahati: It is born out of God-fearing people. It is based on the principle of fear of the Lord. Which is very well grounded in the Bible, in Leviticus, very well grounded in the Koran and other people who have real faith in God. It is true, it is something that is well grounded in the fear of the Lord.
Carolyn Dunn: Doesn’t the Bible say thou shall not kill?
David Bahati: The same Bible says in Leviticus that if a man sleeps with a men he should be punished with death. We are not going to rewrite this Bible. We are not going to adjourn the Word of God.
Carolyn Dunn: Do you have any support from Evangelical Christian groups around the world?
David Bahati: Yes we do get encouragement from people in America and the UK. Some have said though that they should not be courted this publicly because of the fear of blackmail of the homosexuals in their country. That is understandable.
MP David Bahati’s interview with Radio Canada is consistent with what he told CNN on October 29, 2010. Uganda’s Ethics Minister James Nsaba Buturo also confirmed last Friday that the bill will be revisited soon.
David Bahati: The bill is with the committee…This is the legislative process of our country. There are so many bills that come to this house every month and at the time when it was supposed to be debated it was a time when we had to pass…other laws that were very, very, very urgent and we are very optimistic that in the life of this parliament before this parliament expires on the 12th of May this bill will pass.
Carolyn Dunn: Are you confident that it is going to be passed?
David Bahati: I am very, very confident that if it comes to the house it will be passed. And I am sure that the chair person of the committee, the liberal affairs committee, has assured us that it is going to be the next on the agenda. He is going to work on it and we are very confident that it will pass…All we want is to make sure the organisations that promote homosexuality are banned from this country, that we make it very difficult for people to practice homosexuality here and we cut off the money that is coming to promote this behavior and to defend the family and to protect the children.
Carolyn Dunn: Do you hope to influence other countries with this bill?
David Bahati: Well, we have seen countries like Southern Sudan, like Kenya, like Botswana they are very interested and keen on what is happening here and see that once this bill passes you are going to see so many countries adopting this similar arrangement and reviving the courage and the leadership that is needed in this world to make sure that sin of this nature is fought.
Carolyn Dunn: Are you concerned at all that western countries that supply aid money here will impose sanctions because of this.
David Bahati: I don’t think they will. They will threaten but I don’t think they will effectively do that because they know this is an issue that is dividing the world, the world is divided by it and people realize that we’re a sovereign state and as long as we do something democratically, pass it through a democratic process, I don’t see any problem with this. So it will be ridiculous.
Carolyn Dunn: Is this bill born of Evangelical Christianity, of following the Bible to the letter.
David Bahati: It is born out of God-fearing people. It is based on the principle of fear of the Lord. Which is very well grounded in the Bible, in Leviticus, very well grounded in the Koran and other people who have real faith in God. It is true, it is something that is well grounded in the fear of the Lord.
Carolyn Dunn: Doesn’t the Bible say thou shall not kill?
David Bahati: The same Bible says in Leviticus that if a man sleeps with a men he should be punished with death. We are not going to rewrite this Bible. We are not going to adjourn the Word of God.
Carolyn Dunn: Do you have any support from Evangelical Christian groups around the world?
David Bahati: Yes we do get encouragement from people in America and the UK. Some have said though that they should not be courted this publicly because of the fear of blackmail of the homosexuals in their country. That is understandable.
The UN says 'It's Okay to Kill The Gay' →
A resolution was made by the UN to enforce members responsibility to protect the right to life of all people with a special emphasis on a call to investigate killings based on discriminatory grounds. The resolution highlights particular groups historically subject to executions including street children, human rights defenders, members of ethnic, religious, and linguistic minority communities, and, for the past 10 years, the resolution has included sexual orientation as a basis on which some individuals are targeted for death. The tiny West African nation of Benin (on behalf of the UN’s African Group) proposed an amendment to strike sexual minorities from the resolution. The amendment was adopted with 79 votes in favor, 70 against, 17 abstentions and 26 absent.
