Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

MOZAMBIQUE: Proposed law a mixed bag for people with HIV
01 Dec 2008 14:17:40 GMT
 Source: IRIN

Background

•  AIDS pandemic

•  Health and diseases

•  AIDS in Africa

•  Children

MORE >>
MAPUTO, 1 December 2008 (IRIN) - Sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, people living with HIV in Mozambique are still experiencing frequent human rights abuses.

"There are signs that many people have been the victims of violence, or even lost their lives, for having gone public about their HIV-positive status," said Alice Mabote, president of the Mozambican League of Human Rights.

AIDS-related discrimination is particularly severe in rural areas. Marta Capito of the Kucuka Association for people living with HIV in Niassa Province, northern Mozambique, told IRIN/PlusNews she knew of cases in which local authorities had taken land away from women whose husbands had died of AIDS-related illnesses.

Children affected by HIV were also not spared. "When it is known that their parents died of AIDS, children are the targets of violence in school and in the community," Capito said.

The first legislation dealing with the rights of Mozambicans living with HIV was passed in 2002, but was viewed as incomplete because it only covered HIV in the work place.

A draft law covering discrimination against HIV-positive people more broadly, and also criminalising the transmission of HIV, has been in the parliamentary office for the prevention of and fight against HIV and AIDS since 2007. Isaú Meneses, president of the parliamentary office, said there was a large backlog of bills.

"We follow the order in which they are submitted, but the legislators will analyse the bill carefully, considering the fact that dealing with HIV-related issues is a very delicate matter."

The bill draws on the fundamental rights of citizens guaranteed by Mozambique's constitution, including equality, tolerance and respect.

"The approval of the bill will be an important step forward for the HIV positive," said an HIV-positive university student, Sérgio Zavala. "With it we will be able to hold those who abuse and disrespect us criminally responsible."

UNAIDS has provided technical assistance drafting the bill. Dennis Larsen, a communications official at the organisation, said if it became law it would serve as an important tool for defending the rights of people living with HIV.

Júlio Mujojo, national executive secretary of Rensida, a network of Mozambican associations for HIV-positive people, commented: "Before, it was impossible to talk about violation of rights because we had no legal mechanisms for defining those violations."

It is article 49 of the bill - which makes HIV transmission a criminal offense - that is contentious. It stipulates a prison term of between eight and 12 years for intentional transmission, and two to eight years for transmission resulting from negligence. "Mass transmission", for example by a health professional who knowingly gives patients HIV-infected blood, would be punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Activists and civil society organisations successfully lobbied to have a provision that would have made HIV testing mandatory for pregnant women removed, arguing that campaigns to promote voluntary testing were more effective.

While some believe that a law criminalising HIV transmission could undermine the rights of people living with HIV, Sousa Domingos Chilaúle, vice-president of the Xirilo xa Kudumba (Cry of Hope) Association for people living with HIV, is in favour of the legislation.

"For me it's important for people who transmit the virus on purpose to be punished," he said. "I'm HIV positive and I know it's not right to transmit the virus to [HIV-negative] people."

Parliamentary discussions on the bill are scheduled to begin on 1 December. If it is approved, it will be sent to the president, who can either sign it into law, or veto it and send it back to parliament for further debate.

bm/ll/ks/he

© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Children

MORE >>

Emergencies

•  AIDS in Africa

•  AIDS pandemic

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  UN 'will fail to meet targets' on universal access
HelpAge Intl - UK

•  Anthrax infections bring new misery to cholera-hit Zimbabwe
Save the Children - International Alliance

•  Anthrax infections bring new misery to cholera-hit Zimbabwe
Save the Children - Australia

•  Don't Make African Children Pay, urges Save the Children
Save the Children - International Alliance

•  Save the Children recognises World AIDS Day
Save the Children - Australia

MORE >>

Latest news

•  BANGLADESH: Some 22 million children immunised against polio

•  MOZAMBIQUE: Proposed law a mixed bag for people with HIV

•  TIMOR-LESTE: IDPs face difficult journey home

•  KENYA: Where only HIV-positive people get beyond the velvet rope

•  SWAZILAND: Vincent Mdluli, "HIV has ended more romances than anything else"

MORE >>

IRIN news

Background information

Briefings
AIDS in Africa - [Who works where]
AIDS pandemic - [Who works where]

Topics
Children

Related articles

Breaking stories
 ETHIOPIA: New initiative against FGM/C (1 minute ago)

BANGLADESH: Some 22 million children immunised against polio (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Girls being "raped for grades", says aid agency (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 UN 'will fail to meet targets' on universal access (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 "True HIV heroes" (1 minute ago)

Maps
 GLOBAL poverty distribution - infant mortality as poverty indicator (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-12-01T134033Z_01_EIS07_RTRIDSP_2_GERMANY_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/EIS07.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-12-01T132621Z_01_EIS06_RTRIDSP_2_GERMANY_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/EIS06.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-12-01T132505Z_01_EIS03_RTRIDSP_2_GERMANY_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/EIS03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-12-01T132126Z_01_EIS02_RTRIDSP_2_GERMANY_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/EIS02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-12-01T131944Z_01_EIS01_RTRIDSP_2_GERMANY_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/EIS01.htm

A trumpet player performs during a theare play to promote HIV awareness during world AIDS Day 2008, at a cinema in Berlin December 1, 2008. REUTERS/Johannes Eisele (GERMANY) ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Mon Dec 1 14:18:00 2008