New report names top journalists tormentors

Police, the army and resident district commissioners top the list of institutions violating the rights of journalists in the country, the 2021 Press Freedom Index shows.

Police account for nearly 60 percent of all violations documented in 2021, according to the report released yesterday by the Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ).

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Although the 2021 index report indicates that human rights abuses declined from 174 in 2020 to 131, human rights defenders called upon the government to reprimand tormentors of journalists.

“Eighty-two of the 131 violations reported were directly attributed to members of the Uganda Police. Forty-three of the cases emanated from elections and campaign trails, 14 from enforcement of Covid-19 preventive measures, 13 from criminal offences and 12 from journalists covering other stories,” the report reads in part.

Although police spokesperson Fred Ananga and his UPDF counterpart were not readily available to explain the findings, a number of journalists yesterday maintained that ‘journalism is not a crime’ and asked the authorities to put an end to the rights abuses.

Other institutions mentioned in the report include the elite Special Forces Command, the community and Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

“Twenty five violations carried out by the UPDF were registered last year, this is slightly lower than the 31 violations recorded in 2020. This is so upsetting because gone are the days when everyone would look up to the army for protection compared to the police,” said Mr Robert Ssempala, the HRNJ executive director.

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In the 2020 report, there were two cases of switching off radio stations on the orders of UCC and of breaking into media houses, four cases each of threatening violence against journalists and of journalists suspended from work on orders of UCC.

The latest report shows that assaults were the highest, with 63 cases reported, followed by arrests (26 cases), eight cases involved blockage and denial of access to journalists from covering events, seven cases were threats while at least six cases were of damaged equipment.

The report further shows that of the 131 victims, at least 80 percent (about 105 reporters) experienced violence and abuse before, during and after the election period.

Mr Ssempala attributed the decline in the violation cases to less presence of the police and army in public order management.

“We were out of the election and that apology made by the army could have been a deterrent factor to the police to walk the thin line because nothing else explains why the cases are lower. For instance, no action has been taken against errant police officers, they have not changed in the way they treat the journalists,” he said.

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In February last year, the then Chief of Defence Forces, Gen David Muhoozi, apologised to the media fraternity after Military Police assaulted on journalists who were covering Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi’s petition to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights in Kampala.

editorial@ug,nationmedia.com