Uganda's civic space is shrinking - report
Police officers arrest some of the several pre-medical interns who had organised a peaceful march to the president's office on May 15, 2023, protesting their delayed deployment. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The major human rights concerns raised by the respondents in the survey are; police brutality, abductions by security operatives and corruption. Others were torture, NGO closures, unfair restrictions on peaceful demonstration and abuse of women and girls.
Rights to information and expression, rights to assemble and association as well the rule of law, among others were the most violated freedoms in 2022, with police being the leading perpetrator, followed by the judiciary, a human rights report has revealed.
Figures from the 2022 Civic Space Index report by the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders Uganda, NCHRD-U, released on June 20 indicates that 73 per cent of the Ugandans interviewed in last year’s survey on human rights agreed that Uganda is on a regressive journey in respect to human rights and rule of law.
Only 15 per cent of the respondents said that the country was headed in the right direction in protecting civil liberties.
Ranking in terms of violation, NCHRD-U noted that out of the five assessed civic space dimensions, Rule of law was the most violated at 90 per cent, followed by rights to information and expression at 75 per cent while the violation of the rights to assemble and association was rated at 67 percent.
“Citizen Participation came 4th and Non-discrimination and inclusion was 5th with 43 per cent and 26 percent respectively,” the report released by NCHRD-U reads in part.
The major human rights concerns raised by the respondents in the survey are; police brutality, abductions by security operatives and corruption. Others were torture, NGO closures, unfair restrictions on peaceful demonstration and abuse of women and girls.
The report named police as the leading violator of civic space, followed by the courts and the judicial system. Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) was ranked third on the ladder of human rights violators, others includes, the executive, Parliament and Uganda Communications Commission, among others.
The NCHRD-U report nearly mirrors the revelations in the 2022 Uganda Human Rights Commission (URHC) annual report on the state of human rights and freedoms in Uganda which similarly ranked Uganda Police Force as the leading perpetrator on human rights abuses.
Although Uganda dropped a place down to 132 from 133 in the 2022 World Press Index by Reporters without Borders, human rights defenders say a number of journalists continue to be manhandled by security agencies as well as denial of freedom access to information and expression.
Speaking at the report launch in Kampala yesterday, the NCHRD-U Executive Director, Mr Robert Kirenga said that whereas the Uganda Human Rights Commission would like to monitor and ensure the observance of human rights, it is being constrained by low funding as well limited political commitment to fight human rights violations.
“Uganda Human Rights Commission is doing great work amidst challenges, and the biggest challenge they are facing is [limited] resources. If they are given resources, they will be able to do their work and clear the current backlog of cases,” Mr Kirenga said.
Mr Richard Nelson, the Uganda Mission Director for USAID urged government to use the findings in the report to bridge the identified gaps in protecting the civil liberties of the citizens.
“Civil societies in any country play a significant role and help the government to understand the interests of people. So, government should work together with civil societies for the good of the citizens,” Mr Nelson said.
He added that government should also address the issue of corruption, particularly at government level, saying that it is one of the leading causes of human rights violations in the country.
