The response by Ugandan police to rioting in the capital Kampala last week was unwarranted, an influential rights group said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had received reports of police going house-to-house and removing people from their homes, and witnessed truckloads of unarmed men being beaten.
“We have been very concerned about police brutality, the police response, the use of live ammunition, for example, in situations which didn’t warrant it [and] severe beatings of men who were not armed,” HRW researcher Maria Burnett said.
Violence broke out in Kampala on Thursday, triggered by land and power disputes between the government and leaders of Buganda — one of the east African country’s four ancient kingdoms.
The king of Buganda was due to attend a celebration in a town east of Kampala on Saturday. On Thursday, security forces stopped his officials visiting the area to prepare the ground and the king canceled his trip late on Friday after the riots.
At least 14 people died, including a member of the security forces, and scores were injured in three days of clashes in the center and outlying districts.
Kampala was quiet on Sunday.
Government spokesman Daudi Migereko said on Sunday there was a team on the ground taking note of the casualties.
“I want to state once again that as government we regret any loss of life and property and I wish to register, on behalf of government, condolences ... to the families that have lost their innocent dear ones,” he told reporters.
Police chief Kale Kayihura told reporters on Saturday that security forces had arrested 550 suspects during the unrest.
He said that some officers had overreacted after coming under attack early on Saturday in some districts of the capital.
“The thugs pelted the officers with stones and other missiles, and some officers, apparently, overreacted by opening fire in a bid to disperse the criminal gangs,” he said.
East Africa’s third biggest economy has been hailed for its political and economic stability over the last two decades following years of civil war during the 1970s and 1980s.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been admired for fiscal reforms and poverty alleviation, but critics, including some Western donors, accuse him of rights abuses and repression.
“The government is committed to resolving issues of contention through discussion, dialogue and constitutional arrangements,” said Migereko, adding that the Buganda king was now prepared to sit down and hold talks with Museveni.
Burnett said the Ugandan police had a history of using heavy force to quell unrest.
In April, HRW said Uganda’s anti-terrorism unit had unlawfully detained more than 100 people over the past two years and tortured 25 suspects.
It said four died from their injuries.
“We have always been concerned here in Uganda about the problem of both police brutality, but also the use of torture and detention as a tactic to crack down on free speech and journalism,” Burnett said.
The government took four local stations off the air after the police chief said “sectarian” radio broadcasts had fanned the violence.
The Ugandan Broadcasting Council also ordered that several prominent talk shows on radio and TV be suspended.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS