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Uganda Lawuit Challenges Polygamy; Government Says It Is Protected Religious Practice

By Howard M. Friedman

In Uganda earlier this month, the women's rights organization Mifumi Uganda Ltd. filed a petition in the country's Constitutional Court seeking to have laws that permit men to practice polygamy, but do not permit women to have more than one husband, declared unconstitutional. The suit argues that provisions in the Customary Marriages Registration and the Marriage and Divorce of Mohammedan Act that allow polygamy violate the right to equality guaranteed in Article 21 of Uganda's Constitution. (Mufumi press release.) Friday's Kampala Daily Monitor reports that the Attorney General's Office has responded to the petition by arguing that polygamy is protected by Article 37 of the Constitution that guarantees the right "to belong, practice, enjoy, profess and promote any culture, tradition and religion of his or her own choice."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 22, 2010 (boomark / email).