By Mike Brodo
On February 23, State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked a brief question about Uganda’s recent elections and the apparent win by incumbent Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.
“Uganda’s January 14th
elections were marred by … abuses by the government’s security services against
opposition candidates and members of civil society,” acknowledged
Price, before reminding reporters that “Uganda … does have an
important role when it comes to some of our interests in the region.”
Seconds later, Price confidently
argued “this goes to the point that we’ve now made even more times throughout
this briefing, that we can pursue our interests and pursue our values at the
same time.”
While being able to
simultaneously pursue interests and values in Uganda would be ideal, this
clearly does not reflect the reality of the U.S.-Uganda counterterrorism
partnership constructed in its fullest form on the heels of 9/11.
Over the past two decades, Uganda
has become a major
recipient of U.S. military aid and stands as one of America’s
closest military allies on the continent.Supporters of singer-turned-activist politician Bobi Wine have been tortured and beaten to death.
Although such military assistance
is difficult
to quantify due to the classified nature of certain programs,
Ugandan officials in 2016 estimated that Washington provided $170
million per year in military assistance.
As this counterterrorism
partnership has flourished, abuses against the political opposition in Uganda
have skyrocketed.
In 2011, during opposition
demonstrations dubbed the “Walk to Work” campaign, tens
of people were shot dead and hundreds injured by a joint
military-police operation.
When student demonstrators protested the lifting of the age amendment that would allow Museveni to run for president again in 2021, military forces shot them; when opposition MPs opposed the same proposal, Museveni sent plainclothes special forces to beat them on the floor of parliament.
More recently, the supporters of
singer-turned-activist politician Bobi Wine have been tortured
and beaten to death.
In fact, Museveni himself
admitted that security forces killed
at least 54 civilians at a November 2020 opposition protest
that was sparked by another arrest of Bobi Wine.
Though official State Department
reports acknowledge
these atrocities, no consideration is given to how the U.S. might be
culpable for such abuses given its counterterrorism partnership with the
Museveni regime. That would seem a bit hypocritical, however, given its routine
condemnation of such behavior in online statements and press conferences.
There are two pathways through
which the U.S.-Uganda counterterrorism partnership contributes to human rights
abuses.
The first is the United States
contributing directly to the violations by supporting the Ugandan military
which carries them out. The second involves Washington accepting such abuses —
at least to the level at which it does not preclude military aid — in order to
maintain the counterterrorism partnership, thereby allowing such behavior to
continue.
The highly politicized Uganda
People’s Defence Force (UPDF) and the paramilitary structures that benefit from
the same (or superior) U.S. funding, equipment, and training have tortured
and killed opponents of the Museveni regime.
Therefore, by supporting the same
military units that brutalize dissidents as a result of its counterterrorism
partnership with Uganda, the United States contributes to egregious human
rights abuses of the country’s political opposition.
In
addition, America’s blunted criticism of numerous human rights violations,
which stem from not wanting to strain the counterterrorism relationship with
Uganda, allows crackdowns on the political opposition to continue.
Even a Congressional Research Service report agrees, making the claim that “President Yoweri Museveni has been a vocal supporter of counterterrorism efforts in the region, but the State Department has documented serious human rights abuses … in Uganda, and some observers have expressed concern that Museveni’s cooperation on counterterrorism constrains Western criticism for alleged political abuses.”
Although
lately the United States has gone further in its condemnations compared
to its past use of empty statements, there is no indication that the culpable
counterterrorism partnership with Uganda and related military assistance will
see any significant change or reduction.
In a 2008 speech, President Museveni confidently
stated, “I am a revolutionary; I have never been a terrorist. … When you target
noncombatants, you are a terrorist.” While Museveni’s assessment of terrorism
is accurate, his negation of identification with the label misses the
mark.
As it was
in 2008 as
it is today,
on any given day in the streets of Kampala, Museveni orders his henchmen to specifically target
noncombatants, fearing that any lack of repression of such nonviolent
protesters may spell the end of his regime.
Despite
such actions being correctly identified as human rights violations, it seems as
though they also fall under a separate label: terrorism.
If such
is the case, as it appears so using Museveni’s own preached definition of the
word, it is worth considering whether America’s counterterrorism policies in
Uganda undermine its counterterrorism aims as well. – Responsible Statecraft
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