Coordinators
The tasks of the clinic in 2014 include:
- Prepare a shadow report on the state report of Uganda to the African Commission on issues related to HIV
- Prepare an academic article on negligent transmission of HIV
- Research on confidentiality and age of consent
Position Paper on the negligent transmissionof HIV
Guilty in the Eyes of the Public: ‘The Case of Ms. Rosemary Namubiru in Uganda’
Download the Position Paper on the negligent transmission of HIV
The intentional and negligent exposure of HIV transmission has increased willingness to extend liability on tort. This is due to the skyrocketing infection rates for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) which have reached epidemic proportions. To this end, more than half of African states have criminalised transmission and exposure of STDs including HIV by having specific laws on HIV or through provisions in general laws. The case of Ms. Rosemary Namubiru in this paper brings to focus once again not only the injustices that may derive from legislation criminalizing HIV transmission but also how public sentiment may be manipulated to perpetuate stigmatisation and exclusion and thus derail the path of justice.
The focus of this paper is on Uganda and section 171 of the Penal Code of the country, which makes it an offence to expose others to a disease dangerous to life. This paper is presented in four sections. Section 1, the current section, is the introduction. Section 2 covers negligent transmission of HIV where section 171 of the Ugandan Penal Code Act 120 Laws of Uganda is juxtaposed to the international standards on HIV as well as a discussion on the rights of the accused. Section 3 is a synopsis of the implication of Namubiru’s case for other people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) and section 4 is the conclusion.
LLM/MPhil students launch HIV information tool in Hammanskraal
The Centre for the Study of AIDS (CSA) in collaboration with the University of Pretoria runs a para-legal advice bureau for people living with HIV/AIDS in Hammanskraal. The bureau is called The Place and it offers HIV related information along with structural assistance to Thulani Mvula, a community-based HIV activist and support group coordinator.
Thulani’s vision is to empower people living with HIV to live full and healthy lives and not to internalise the discrimination that they face on a daily basis. He says that the people he works with are not aware of their rights and thus cannot defend themselves against unfair treatment. The Place also expressed the view that the HIV positive community is not aware of the legal and other services available to them.
Following a needs assessment with Thulani and officers of The Place, three students from the LLM/MPhil in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa programme decided to compile an HIV information pamphlet for the Hammanskraal community. The pamphlet was printed in both English and in Setswana, the local language. It sets out the basic legal rights which people living with HIV/AIDS enjoy in the healthcare and employment settings as well as information on the process for applying for a social grant. The pamphlet also contains the contact details of service providers of concern to people living with HIV/AIDS in the Hammanskraal area.
The pamphlet was launched on 22 May 2013 at one of the support group meetings that Thulani hosts at the Jubilee clinic. It will be useful to the members of the support group in understanding their rights and in reaching out to other members of the community suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Download the HIV/AIDS pamphlet [EN]Download the HIV/AIDS pamphlet [Setswana]
