RAPISTS found guilty of infecting their victims with the HIV/AIDS virus could face the death penalty if Swaziland’s proposed new Public Health Bill becomes law. The Bill mirrors similar proposals in South Africa and Malawi. The proposal is contained in Section 60 (4) of the new Bill, which says the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act should be invoked for all rapists who infect their victims. It also stipulates life imprisonment for anyone who knowingly transmits the disease to their sexual partners. The Bill does, however, allow for lesser sentences in special circumstances, including stipulations that anyone convicted of passing the disease on could be forced to compensate their victims financially. The Bill has already evoked strong support from lobby groups as the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse and it is scheduled for parliamentary debate shortly.