African leaders urged to boycott EU summit over criticism of anti-homosexuality bills
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 18, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific Parliament (ACP) has issued a statement denouncing the European Parliament's decision to recommend sanctions against African nations that refuse to kowtow to the EU’s homosexual agenda. The ACP is calling on African heads of state to boycott the EU-Africa summit scheduled for May, according to South Africa News24.
The ACP is an organization composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states that are connected to the European Union under the "ACP-EC Partnership Agreement."
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's decision to sign an anti-homosexuality has been strongly condemned -even by pro-family leaders - because of the bill's harsh penalties.
The European Parliament voted last week to recommend heavy economic penalties, the denial of travel visas, the withdrawal of foreign aid and other sanctions against Uganda and Nigeria in response to their recent passing of anti-homosexuality laws.
At the ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly currently under way in Strasbourg, ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly Co-President Louis Michel issued a press release slamming the Ugandan law against homosexuality.
"Any law that criminalizes homosexuality is a clear breach” of international agreements that protect minorities and “must be immediately repealed," said Michel of the legislation signed into law on February 23 by the president of Uganda.
"We can never accept that governments use some kind of cultural argument as a pretext to justify demonizing homosexuality," Michel said, stressing that, “the right to be different is a founding expression of the rights of man."
The Ugandan legislation, focused on protecting traditional family values, was roundly condemned even by pro-family leaders for its harsh penalties.
Among the crimes it targets are homosexual acts where one of the partners is infected with HIV, homosexual acts with minors, homosexual acts with the disabled, repeated sexual offences, and any person who conducts a "marriage" ceremony for same-sex couples.
The ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly vote on what the EU terms the "regional integration and modernization of customs for sustainable development in ACP countries" is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 19.
Zimbabwe's representative to the ACP-EU, Makhosini Hlongwane, said the ACP had drafted a statement to argue against the European Parliament's resolution.
"We now see a dangerous Europeanization of our value system and our culture, tied to development aid," Hlongwane said, according to South Africa News24. "If we do not take steps to stop further incursions into our cultural territory, we are doomed as a people.”
