US President Joe Biden condemned Uganda's new Anti-Homosexuality Act on Monday and warned about possible sanctions against the country.
"We are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry into the United States against anyone involved in serious human rights abuses or corruption," Biden said in a statement
The president called the enactment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act "a tragic violation" of human rights that "jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country".
The National Security Council was directed to evaluate the implications of the new law on all aspects of US engagement with Uganda. Biden recalled that the US government was investing nearly $1 billion annually in the country.
On Monday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni approved his government's Anti-Homosexuality Act.
The legislation, considered to be one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ laws in the world, was approved by the Ugandan parliament earlier in May. For some violations, it provides for the death penalty, while "propaganda of homosexuality" is punishable by 20 years in prison.
Asuman Basalirwa, who intoduced the bill earlier this year, said on Monday that the US has already revoked the visas of Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, who announced the signing of the law.
“The Speaker’s visas for America have been cancelled. This is also confirmed (by) this email from the US Embassy. It goes, Dear Madam Speaker, the United State government has revoked your current visas on information that came available after your last issuance,” Basaalirwa said while reading an email from the US embassy to Speaker Among.
Basalirwa noted that Among has become "the first victim" of likely US sanctions.
“I think they were looking for my Visa for the US and they didn’t find it, so the first victim is the Speaker,” he said.