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The Death Penalty as Genocide: The Persecution of “Homosexuals” in Uganda

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Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice

Abstract

From 2009 to 2012, the Ugandan government attempted to pass legislation mandating the death penalty as punishment for “homosexuality.” Typically, the wholesale execution of a group of people is considered to be genocide, but sexual orientation is not a protected group as specified in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was signed into law immediately following World War II. Increased violence against “homosexuals” and the murder of an outspoken gay activist in Uganda indicate a growing public hatred of gays and lesbians, which mirrors events from genocides. In this paper we review events in Uganda and relate them to other genocidal incidents to determine whether the treatment of gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals constitutes genocide, based on findings from social science research, if not legally. Recommendations are made regarding the current definition of genocide used by the international community.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is important to note that the state currently known as “Uganda” did not exist prior to colonial rule by the British. Prior to colonization, this region contained several “kingdoms” and smaller communities not formally defined as a nation-state (Jjuuko 2013).

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Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Dallas, Texas in March 2013. The authors would like to thank Horia Dijmarescu, Vanessa R. Panfil, and Dana Peterson for their valuable suggestions and feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, 655 Auditorium Road, Room 560, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Christina DeJong

  2. School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Eric Long

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  1. Christina DeJong
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Correspondence to Christina DeJong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, Albany, New York, USA

    Dana Peterson

  2. School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, USA

    Vanessa R. Panfil

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DeJong, C., Long, E. (2014). The Death Penalty as Genocide: The Persecution of “Homosexuals” in Uganda . In: Peterson, D., Panfil, V. (eds) Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9188-0_16

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