Tue, Aug 15, 2023 page9

• Uganda’s president under fire over closure of UN human rights office

  Critics called the forced closure ‘a huge blow’ to human rights as the nation fosters a hostile environment for activists, journalists and gay people

  • By Samuel Okiror / The Guardian, KAMPALA
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  Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has come under attack from campaigners and activists for forcing the closure of the UN human rights office in the country.

  The head office in the capital, Kampala, closed early this month. Two field offices, in Gulu and Moroto, had already ceased operating over the summer, after the government’s decision not to renew a host agreement allowing the agency to operate.

  UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk announced the closures with “regret,” and said the agency had worked for 18 years in Uganda for “the promotion and protection of the human rights of all Ugandans.”

  The move comes amid concerns over human rights violations and the recently signed anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which allows the death penalty for some homosexual acts.

  “Much progress has been made in the country over the years, but serious human rights challenges remain in the path to full enjoyment of human rights for all,” Turk said.

  Turk expressed particular concern about the human rights situation in Uganda ahead of the 2026 elections in which Museveni is expected to run, given the “increasingly hostile environment” in which activists and journalists are operating. Most of the 54 non-governmental organizations whose work in Uganda was arbitrarily suspended in August 2021 also remain closed.

  On July 26, a UN report expressed concerns about persistent reports of arbitrary arrest and detention of political opponents, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders in Uganda, as well as persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

  Human rights and advocacy groups in the country have called the government’s decision to shut the offices “shameful.”

  “Now the abuse[s] from the tyrant [Museveni] will continue without [the] worry of a watchdog,” Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, a lesbian activist in Kampala, wrote on the social media platform then known as Twitter.

  “It is disheartening to witness the closure of a critical oversight body that sought to address Uganda’s shortcoming in upholding human rights,” Truth to LGBTQ coexecutive director Steven Kabuye said.

  “This regrettable development underscores a concerning trend whereby the Ugandan government appears willing to propagate the oppression and eradication of its own citizens, particularly members of the LGBTQI+ community,” he said.

  Oryem Nyeko, a researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch, said it was a “huge blow,” because many groups, particularly the Uganda Human Rights Commission, relied heavily on UN support.

  “By not renewing their mandate, the government has done a huge disservice to the promotion of human rights in Uganda,” he said.

  Livingstone Sewanyana of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative said Ugandans would need to step up to fill the gap.

  “Knowing that citizens are the rights holders, it is incumbent upon them to demand full restoration and enjoyment of their rights,” Sewanyana said.

  “Ugandans have a history of making demands on their state. Like in the past, they must rise to the occasion,” he said.
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