In a 632 votes in favour and 15 against
with 48 abstentions, the European parliament yesterday Thursday adopted
three resolutions taking stock of the human rights violations in Uganda.
For Uganda, the EU parliament focused on the January 14 general
elections which they said: "were neither democratic nor transparent."
The Electoral Commission declared the incumbent President Yoweri
Museveni winner after garnering 58 per cent of the total polls cast.
Museveni, according to the Electoral Commission was followed by National
Unity Platform candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine who polled 35
per cent of the votes. Kyagulanyi has since petitioned the Supreme court
with over 26 grounds to have Museveni's election victory annulled over
alleged election malpractice and rigging.
The EU parliament condemned "the
violence, continued harassment and systematic crackdown faced by
political opposition leaders" and suppression of civil society
organisations who have had their bank accounts frozen after government
accused them of funding opposition activities.
The EU parliament reiterated that sanctions against individuals and
organisations responsible for human rights violations in Uganda "must be
adopted under the new EU human rights sanction mechanism, the so-called
EU Magnitsky Act."
The resolution comes days after the United Kingdom secretary of state
for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Dominic Rennie Raab
revealed that the UK following the deadly November 2020 protests in
which over 54 people got killed; “we took the decision to pause funding
of three projects totalling £40,909 which were working directly with the
Ugandan security services. These projects include: one delivering human
rights training to the Uganda Police Force, a second delivering human
rights training to the Uganda Prison Service and a third project,
providing materials to the UPDF to document and investigate
conflict-related sexual violence.”
Raab also said the UK is reviewing the permanent status of those paused projects and other UKAid projects.
Earlier police deployment at Bobi Wine's home in Magere Below is the full adopted EU parliament resolution on Uganda
A. whereas on 14 January 2021 Ugandan voters went to the polls to
elect a president and members of parliament amid huge reports of
irregularities, and whereas on 16 January 2021, the Electoral Commission
declared President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in office for 35
years, the winner – for a sixth term – with 59 % of the vote, against
main opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, also known as Bobi
Wine, who received 35 %; whereas the results of the election were hard
to verify because the Elections Commission did not follow the prescribed
tallying process;
B. whereas the run-up to the 2020 Ugandan presidential elections was
marred by violence, with opposition candidates, civil society
organisations (CSOs), human rights defenders, electoral experts and
journalists facing systematic oppression and intimidation when
exercising their legitimate rights; whereas the excessive use of force
by law enforcement and security agencies seriously tarnished the
electoral process;
C. whereas from autumn 2020 onwards the authorities intensified their
repression of the political opposition ahead of the elections, with
security agencies arresting the key opposition candidates Bobi Wine,
Patrick Oboi Amuriat and Lt Gen. Henry Tumukunde, disrupting their
rallies and limiting media coverage of the elections;
D. whereas the presidential candidate of the opposition party Forum
for Democratic Change, Patrick Oboi Amuriat, was arrested numerous times
prior to the elections, with crowds at one of his campaign rallies
being dispersed by tear gas on 9 November 2020 and his convoy being shot
at by police on 6 January 2021; whereas the increasing militarisation
of the election campaign became particularly apparent on 18 and 19
November 2020 when security forces clamped down on protestors who were
demanding the release of the then-detained presidential candidate Bobi
Wine, resulting in at least 54 protestors dying in at least seven
districts around the country, hundreds being arrested and others going
missing;
F. whereas after the elections the opposition candidate Bobi Wine was
put under de facto house arrest, with security forces surrounding his
house for 11 days;
G. whereas on 1 February 2021, Bobi Wine filed a petition at Uganda’s
High Court to challenge the election results, alleging widespread
fraud, including the involvement of the military in stuffing ballot
boxes, casting ballots for people and deterring voters from entering
polling stations; whereas President Museveni has faced High Court
challenges following the last four elections;
H. whereas on 7 January 2021, Bobi Wine filed a petition with the
International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing President Museveni and nine
other senior officials of multiple human rights violations;
I. whereas international observer and electoral expert missions were
largely absent from the polls after Ugandan authorities failed to
accredit the missions and whereas the authorities also failed to
implement recommendations from past missions; whereas the EU had offered
to send a small team of electoral observers, but the offer was
declined; whereas the USA cancelled its observation of Uganda’s general
election because most of its accreditation requests were denied; whereas
the 2016 EU Election Observation Mission’s final report made some 30
recommendations, including highlighting the need for a more independent
electoral body and the elimination of the excessive use of force by
security services, none of which were implemented by the Ugandan
authorities;
J. whereas the government restricted internet access prior to the
elections and started to introduce a social media tax on users buying
internet data, and whereas there have been reports of access to online
messaging and social media platforms being blocked before the elections;
whereas access to some social media sites remains restricted;
K. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has also been used as a pretext for
repression and disproportionate restrictions on opposition gatherings
and activities; whereas Uganda has reported approximately 40 000 cases
of COVID-19; whereas the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has
expressed concern that COVID-19 measures were used to restrict political
freedoms and political participation during the election process;
whereas on 26 December 2020, Uganda suspended campaigning in areas where
the opposition enjoyed particular popularity, including Mbarara,
Kabarole, Luwero, Kasese, Masaka, Wakiso, Jinja, Kalungu, Kazo, Kampala
City and Tororo, citing COVID-19 precautions;
L. whereas on several occasions, COVID-19-related restrictive
measures have targeted particular groups, resulting in excessive
violence and arbitrary arrests without access to a lawyer, as
illustrated by the police raid held on 29 March 2020 on the Children of
the Sun Foundation, a shelter for homeless young people who identify as
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender;
M. whereas in November 2020, the National Bureau for NGOs
(non-governmental organisations) arbitrarily halted the activities of
the newly formed National Election Watch Uganda, a citizen-led CSO set
up to observe elections; whereas the Financial Intelligence Authority of
Uganda froze the bank accounts of several CSOs, including the Uganda
National NGO Forum and Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), citing
uncorroborated charges of financing terrorism;
N. whereas over the past years, the Ugandan authorities have
increasingly targeted CSOs, particularly those working on human rights
and elections; whereas on 23 December 2020, Nicholas Opiyo, a leading
human rights lawyer and Sakharov Fellow was arrested alongside three
other lawyers – Herbert Dakasi, Anthony Odur, and Esomu Obure – and
Hamid Tenywa, a National Unity Platform (NUP) member, on accusations of
money laundering and breaching Uganda’s constitutional guarantees;
whereas Nicholas Opiyo was released on bail on 30 December 2020, but is
still awaiting a trial; whereas Opiyo fiercely denies the accusations,
stating that monies were legally used to support Chapter Four Uganda’s
human rights work;
O. whereas hundreds of NUP supporters have been abducted by security
operatives on the campaign trail and an unclear number of them are still
being forcibly detained or are missing;
P. whereas on 2 January 2020, in a letter to the Ministry of Finance,
President Museveni ordered the suspension of the Democratic Governance
Facility (DGF); whereas, the DGF funds the majority of NGOs in Uganda
and is supported by numerous Member States including Austria, Norway,
the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland; whereas its purpose is to
strengthen democratisation, protect human rights, improve access to
justice and enhance accountability; whereas the implementation of
important programmes with EU funding is being severely hindered;
Q. whereas in December 2020, the Human Rights Network for Journalists
– Uganda reported over 100 cases of human rights violations against
journalists, including police violence, which mainly took place when
they were out covering the campaigns of political candidates; whereas
the police vowed on 30 December 2020 that only ‘certified journalists’
would be allowed to cover the vote; whereas at the end of November 2020,
the authorities expelled three Canadian journalists; whereas Uganda is
now ranked 125th out of 180 countries according to the Reporters Without
Borders 2020 World Press Freedom Index;
R. whereas on 12 December 2020 the government froze the assets of
four NGOs active in election campaigns encouraging the participation of
women and youth – UWONET, the National NGO Forum, the Women
International Peace Centre, and the Alliance of Finance Election
Monitoring – on charges of financing terrorism;
S. whereas on 11 January 2021, the Office of the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights condemned what it termed ‘the deteriorating human
rights situation in Uganda’ and reported numerous violations of human
rights, including the rights of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly
and participation, as well as the arbitrary deprivation of life,
arbitrary arrest and detention, and torture;
T. whereas an increasingly anti-Western rhetoric has been present in the election campaign and statements by President Museveni;
U. whereas Uganda has one of the youngest and most rapidly growing
populations in the world, many of whom exercised their right to vote in a
peaceful manner; whereas one million young eligible voters were not
registered by the Uganda National Electoral Commission, which claimed to
lack the material resources to register them;
V. whereas through the 11th European Development Fund, the EU is
providing Uganda with EUR 578 million, namely to support the promotion
of good governance, improve infrastructure, ensure food security and
support agriculture; whereas Uganda also receives EUR 112,2 million from
the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa;
W. whereas security and development cooperation between Uganda and
the EU, the USA and other countries is conducted in the context of the
African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM);
X. whereas the UN Human Development Index ranks Uganda 159th out of
189, and whereas according to Transparency International, Uganda ranks
137th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index;
Y. whereas Uganda has one of the world’s harshest laws against
homosexuality and whereas discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+
people persists;
Z. whereas former militia leader and child soldier Dominic Ongwen
from Uganda was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity
at the ICC in a landmark judgment on 4 February 2021, which saw him
convicted of 61 individual charges of murder, rape, sexual slavery,
abduction and torture committed during his time as a commander in the
Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a violent cult which waged a bloody
campaign of violence in Uganda and neighbouring countries from the
mid-1980s until a few years ago;
1. Deplores the fact that the election process was not democratic and
transparent; condemns the excessive use of force by the police and the
armed forces in the presidential election and their growing interference
in the political process; regrets the fact that independent, local and
international election observers were prohibited from overseeing the
election, preventing it from being assessed against internationally
recognised standards; underlines the fundamental importance of free and
fair elections, which are a prerequisite for sustainable and long-term
development; in this spirit applauds the Ugandan people, in particular
the young population, for the courage and enthusiasm for democracy that
they demonstrated during this election campaign;
2. Condemns the violence against, continued harassment of and
systematic crackdown on political opposition leaders in Uganda, as well
as the suppression of civil society, human rights defenders and the
media, and the disruption of social media platforms and internet
blackouts;
3. Calls on the government, therefore, to put an end to the
persistent use of lethal and excessive force by the security forces and
the arbitrary arrests and detention of, and attacks against, opposition
politicians and supporters, protesters, human rights defenders and
journalists;
4. Calls on the Ugandan Government to ensure justice and
accountability for all victims by carrying out impartial, thorough and
independent investigations into the shootings and violence perpetrated
by security forces, and similarly calls on the Ugandan judiciary to
objectively and independently apply the existing legislative framework
and to take full note of the facts and evidence available; calls on the
Ugandan authorities to launch an immediate independent investigation
into the tragic events of 18 and 19 November 2020, where at least 54
people needlessly lost their lives at the hands of the police following
the arrest of Bobi Wine, and where hundreds more were injured, something
that President Museveni himself has acknowledged, and to hold those
responsible to account;
5. Underlines that appeals against and challenges to election results
are a fundamental feature of a credible electoral process; expects all
election challenges and complaints to be addressed in an independent and
transparent manner using the available constitutional and legal
remedies;
6. Calls on the government to immediately and unconditionally release
or drop all charges against all those arrested and detained solely for
participating in peaceful political assemblies or for exercising their
right to freedom of expression and association, including the 2016
European Parliament Sakharov Fellow Nicholas Opiyo; reminds the
Government of Uganda to respect the freedom of expression and the right
to peaceful and safe assembly, including the free movement of all
political actors and their supporters, and denounces the ongoing
crackdown on civil society; calls on the government to ensure that Mr
Opiyo’s rights to due process and a fair trial are upheld to the highest
standard;
7. Reminds the Ugandan authorities of their obligation to guarantee,
protect and promote fundamental rights – including the civil and
political rights of the country’s citizens – fair representation
regardless of ethnic background, freedom of speech and freedom of
assembly, and to affirm the crucial role that the political opposition,
civil society actors, journalists and the media play in the country;
calls on the authorities to lift any restrictions that may limit
people’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression
and freedom of association;
8. Reminds the Government of Uganda of the importance of freedom of
expression and the role of free and pluralistic media in a democratic
society; notes with concern that journalists covering the elections were
routinely subjected to intimidation and violence; expects the Ugandan
authorities to create an environment where journalists can carry out
their work without hindrance;
9. Calls on the Ugandan authorities to ensure secure and unrestricted
internet access for all, including to social media and online messaging
platforms, as not to do so constitutes a serious obstacle to freedom of
information, including media freedom;
10. Urges the Ugandan authorities to end the arbitrary suspension of
civil society activities, and the arrests of civil society activists and
the freezing of their financial assets; in this regard, condemns in the
strongest terms the attempts to limit civil society funding, in
particular by President Museveni’s order to suspend the multi-million
euro DGF, a pooled fund coordinated by the EU and national development
partners to support groups working to promote human rights, deepen
democracy and improve accountability in Uganda;
11. Expects the Ugandan Government to immediately desist from using
the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for introducing laws and policies
that violate international law and for rolling back human rights
guarantees, including unduly restricting the rights to freedom of
peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, the main targets of which
are LGTBTQ+ persons; urges the Ugandan authorities to respect the rights
and dignity of the country’s people and to strictly limit the exercise
of emergency power to the protection of public health;
12. Strongly criticises Uganda’s harsh laws against homosexuality and
calls for their urgent revision, together with a strategy to combat
discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people;
13. Insists that the EU delegation in Uganda continue to monitor
closely the situation of LGBTQ+ people and actively support CSOs, human
rights defenders and LGBTQ+ people on the ground;
14. Insists on the EU’s commitment and readiness to engage with the
Ugandan authorities and assist with much-needed democratic and
governance reforms; underlines, however that the success of this
cooperation largely depends on willingness from the Ugandan side to
actually implement those reforms; recalls, in this regard, that the
systematic use of state repression and violence could fundamentally
impact the EU’s future relationship with Uganda; calls on the EU to take
advantage of the political leverage provided by development aid
programmes, namely budget support programmes, to enhance the defence and
promotion of human rights in Uganda;
15. Insists that the EU and other international actors maintain and
strengthen their integrated and coordinated approach on Uganda, which
includes the promotion of good governance, democracy and human rights,
and the strengthening of the justice system and rule of law, and urges
the EU and its Member States to raise these concerns through public and
diplomatic channels; reiterates that sanctions against individuals and
organisations responsible for human rights violations in Uganda must be
adopted at EU level under the new EU human rights sanction mechanism,
the so-called EU Magnitsky Act;
16. Recommends increasing scrutiny of Uganda’s fiscal management and
transparency; urges the Commission and the European External Action
Service to continue conducting systematic reviews of EU budget support
programmes where there is a risk of funds being diverted for use by the
Ugandan authorities in activities which may abet human rights abuses and
target activists;
17. Welcomes the verdict in the case against former LRA commander
Dominic Ongwen, who was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against
humanity by the ICC, and views it as a significant step towards justice
and accountability for the atrocities committed by the LRA;
18. Remains concerned by the overall security situation in the region
and underlines, in this regard, the important work of AMISOM; stresses
that its long-term objectives will only be reached if all those involved
lead by example when it comes to respecting the rule of law,
fundamental rights and democratic principles;
19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the
Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the
EU Special Representative for Human Rights, the President of the
Republic of Uganda, the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, and the
African Union and its institutions.
