EU calls for independent probe into November riots

The European Union (EU) yesterday renewed its demand for independent investigations into the November 2020 riots and asked government to make public the findings of its inquiries into the killing of 54 civilians. The European Bloc first made similar demands on November 26, 2020.

This newspaper began serialising the 86-page government report on Monday.

Yesterday marked one year since spontaneous riots broke out in Kampala City and other parts of the country, in response to the arrest of then National Unity Platform presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine.

Bobi was arrested in Luuka District while on his presidential campaign trail for allegedly violating social distancing measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

“As Uganda marks one year since these terrible events, we renew our call for a full and independent investigation into the events of November 18 and 19, 2020 as a key component of securing accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims of these killings,” the EU statement released last evening read in part.

Adding: “We also call for a report on the police investigations into the killings to be made available to the public, in line with the statement made by H.E. President Museveni during his address to the nation on August 14.”

President Museveni, in an address on November 29, 2020, said 54 people were killed, mostly by shooting, during the three-day riots.

Police investigated the killings, but shelved the findings contrary to the President’s instructions to make the report public.

Mr Museveni said of the 54 killed people, 32 were “rioters” and 20 killed by “stray bullets”.

The Head of State added that 1,014 suspects were arrested, of whom 843 suspects were charged in courts of law, including Bobi, 699 were remanded, 93 were released on court bail and 113 were released on police bond.

Daily Monitor covered the killings in a series titled November riots: lives we lost, published for more than a week from January 4.  Accounts offered then by witnesses during our investigations showed that nearly half-a-dozen of those killed in the protests were students, more than 10 were boda bodas and six were mechanics.

In addition, we found that bullets caught half-a-dozen of the victims in the stomach, a similar number were shot in the neck while about 10 took bullets in the rib cage, chest and back.

Efforts to reach out to Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the minister for ICT and National Guidance, on whether they will comply with the EU demands to cause full independent investigations into the Bobi riots, were futile as he never answered out calls to him last evening.