Canadian Court Rules First Degree Murder and Aggravated Assault for Non-Disclosure of HIV

This past Saturday, there was an historic verdict in Hamilton, Ontario Canada whereby Ugandan native Johnson (I know) Aziga was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and; 10 counts of aggravated assault for knowingly exposing sexual partners to the HIV virus.  The reason I cite that Aziga is from Uganda is because the strain of HIV that infected these women is relatively rare in North America but common in parts of Africa (more on this in a bit).

Aziga was diagnosed in 1996 and fully informed on his obligations of disclosure and use of condoms yet Aziga, aware of his status, denied it outright when asked by sexual partners and also “persuaded” them not to use condoms.  He continued this behaviour right up until his arrest on August 30^th, 2003.

I think it important to note what Rosie DiManno says in the article I've cited in the link above and that is these women were “plain, even homely, and probably lonely” who he picked up in the workplace and in bars.

God only knows what he said to these women to “persuade” them not to accept a condom (well, actually he does and they do too) but it probably involved promises of love and permanent relationship, which these woman likely hungered for.  

After his arrest and his photo was widely circulated in the Toronto media, other women came forward to police to make up 13 victims in total, though several dropped out prior to the trial.

In the end, 2 women are dead, 5 have tested positive for HIV infection and 4 have tested negative.

This is what Aziga had to say in his defense: "This is an issue in which it takes two to tango, the sex issue," he expounded. "Somebody may be ... fraudulent and so mean, but it takes two. It's unfortunate, some people are being reported dead ... “

Psychopaths say things like this. The chauvinism that places blame on women as bearing sole responsibility for contraception and sexual health and protection of themselves and their partner says things like this.

The Crown prosecutors rightly told the court that a person cannot give informed or valid consent if the other individual is lying about being positive for HIV. In other words, take your non-argument and cram it, Aziga.

Mr. Aziga manipulated and deliberately endangered the lives of these women, and any future partners or pregnancies they may have had for his own immediate sexual gratification.  We’ve received a glimpse here into the attitude of many African men that is largely responsible for the proliferation of AIDS on the African continent. I’m not telling you anything new here, The Stephen Lewis Foundation has been saying this for years.

When someone murders with a knife,  a gun or any other weapon, that instrument of harm is removed, put into evidence and locked away.  Mr. Aziga can be removed for 25 years to the penitentiary but his weapon is still with him. That weapon isn’t his penis, it’s his brain. As is always the case with violent offenders.  The mind tells the hand, or in this case the penis, what to do and Johnson (I know) Aziga either has a very evil, malicious, predatory and narcissistic mind or; he is merely representational of the problem of culturally entrenched misogyny that has largely contributed to the explosion of HIV in Africa.    

In this case, the two went hand-in-hand and became a walking time bomb. Unfortunately for two women, the timer went off. Five others are still listening to it tick.