KAMPALA, Uganda, May 13 (UPI) -- The Ugandan Parliament adjourned without debating a measure that called for the death penalty in certain cases involving homosexuality, the speaker said.
A bill proposed in 2009 called for the death penalty for offenders who commit certain homosexual acts. The bill was widely condemned by the international community.
Parliament Speaker Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk said there was no time to take up the controversial bill during the Friday session. Parliament was adjourned with no schedule for return, The Guardian newspaper in London said.
A Ugandan source familiar with the legislation said lawmakers could return by Tuesday but many have left for their constituencies, the newspaper adds.
Human Rights Watch said the bill was drafted to remove certain controversial provisions regarding "attempted" homosexuality and "aiding and abetting homosexuality" but still fell well short of international norms on discrimination.
David Kato, an outspoken gay rights advocate and one of the few openly gay men in Uganda, was beaten to death with a hammer in his home near Kampala in January.
The Rolling Stone newspaper in Uganda last year sparked controversy when it published the names of people the editors said were homosexuals. Many of those listed by the magazine were attacked after their names were published.
