NAIROBI – The appeals and condemnations are very loud and are piling up each day, but the Uganda government has refused to bow to pressure.
The latest appeal is from Human Rights Watch.
On February 15, the world’s human rights watchdog urged the Ugandan government to immediately reverse its decision to end the mandate of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Uganda. On February 6, 2023, Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Ministry informed the OHCHR Uganda country office that it would not renew its agreement to host the UN entity beyond its current three-year term ending in February 2023.
Concerned UN member countries should press the Ugandan government to reverse its decision to close the UN office and ensure that nongovernmental organizations have a safe environment to work in, Human Rights Watch said in a February 15 statement.
“Shutting down the UN human rights office is just the latest government action to stifle those working to promote respect for human rights in Uganda,” Oryem Nyeko, a Uganda researcher at Human Rights Watch said, “Instead of removing another critical voice from the human rights ecosystem, Ugandan authorities should create an enabling environment for rights advocates to work,” the international non-governmental organization said.
The then-UN Commission on Human Rights established the UN human rights office with government backing in Uganda in 2005 to focus on human rights in conflict-affected northern and northeastern Uganda. In 2009, its mandate was extended to cover the entire country and all human rights issues, including training human rights defenders and security officials; monitoring human rights abuses; and facilitating the follow-up of recommendations from UN human rights mechanisms, through close partnerships with the national human rights body, the Uganda Human Rights Commission. Uganda currently hosts the largest stand-alone UN human rights office in Africa.
In its letter to the UN Human Rights office in Kampala, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said it made the decision because of the government’s own “commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights,” and the existence of “strong National Human Rights Institutions and a vibrant civil society.” The ministry said it would continue its “cooperation with the OHCHR headquarters either directly or through its permanent mission in Geneva.”
Human Rights Watch wrote by email to Vincent Bagiire, the Ministry’s permanent secretary, with questions about the government’s position. Bagiire declined to answer the detailed queries and instead referred Human Rights Watch to the ministry’s “communication to OHCHR that has been widely disseminated,” according to the HRW press statement.
Many Ugandan activists view the UN human rights office as playing a critical role in Uganda, supporting both civil society groups and the government to promote human rights. Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, told Human Rights Watch: “[The government’s decision] goes a long way to undermine the sector itself given that civil society is at its weakest point. The argument being that we have a robust civil society and strong national institutions is not true.”
Ruth Ssekindi, Director of Monitoring and Inspections at the Uganda Human Rights Commission, said that OHCHR’s presence in Uganda strengthens the work of the commission: “We have been involved in so many activities with them—from drawing up a national action plan on business and human rights to working on reviewing legislation and policy. For us as partners, we would wish to have them in the country.”
Uganda’s Non-Governmental Organisations Act of 2016 heavily restricts the activism space for independent groups by giving broad powers to the government to suspend, blacklist, or revoke the licenses of organizations. The law also provides for punitive measures, including imprisonment of up to three years for failing to, “produce to the Bureau a certificate, permit, constitution, charter, or other relevant document or information.” The authorities have used this and other laws to severely restrict civil society organizations, media, and online communication, as state agents have routinely harassed and intimidated journalists.
Robert Kirenga, the executive director of the National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders in Kampala, said that the UN human rights office’s work in Uganda filled some of these gaps: “There were things OHCHR could do that we NGOs couldn’t. An RDC [government official] could stop a nongovernmental organization from holding a workshop, but they wouldn’t do this if we were with OHCHR.”
“The Uganda government has not only shown little commitment to addressing the country’s deteriorating human rights situation but has increased repression of human rights groups,” Nyeko said. “Concerned UN member states should press Uganda to constructively engage with all UN human rights mechanisms and put in place measures to allow rights groups to work freely without fear.”