Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni declined to sign a bill that would require the death penalty for homosexuality in some cases and sent it back to Parliament for "strengthening."
Museveni's decision was announced late Thursday after he met with lawmakers in his ruling National Resistance Movement party, almost all of whom supported the bill.
The meeting ended with a decision to return the bill to Parliament "with proposals for its improvement," a statement said. It was not clear what the president's recommendations were.
The Ugandan Parliament passed the bill on March 21, and the president must sign it for it to become law.
NRM chief whip Denis Hamson Obua said Thursday that Museveni would meet Tuesday with the Parliament's legal and parliamentary affairs committee to draft amendments to the bill.
Homosexuality is illegal in Uganda — as it is in more than 30 of Africa's 54 countries — under a colonial-era law criminalizing sex acts "against the order of nature." The punishment is life imprisonment.
Museveni is a strong opponent of LGBTQ rights. Last month, he described gay people as "deviants." However, he is under pressure from the international community to veto the bill. U.N. experts say the bill, if passed, would be "an egregious violation of human rights," and the U.S. has warned of economic consequences if the legislation is enacted.
Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "urged the Ugandan government to strongly consider [the impact of] the implementation of this legislation," saying via Twitter that the bill "could reverse gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS."
The bill prescribes the death penalty for the offense of "aggravated homosexuality," defined as sexual relations involving people infected with HIV as well as minors and other categories of vulnerable people. It also includes life imprisonment for "homosexuality."
Jail terms of up to 20 years are proposed for those who advocate or promote LGBTQ rights.
Under the bill, a suspect convicted of "attempted aggravated homosexuality" can be jailed for 14 years, and the offense of "attempted homosexuality" is punishable by up to 10 years.
The bill has widespread support in Uganda, including among church leaders. It was introduced by a lawmaker who said his goal was to punish the "promotion, recruitment and funding" of LGBTQ activities in the country. Only two of 389 legislators present for the voting session opposed the bill.
Ignatius Annor of VOA's English to Africa Service contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
