KAMPALA, Uganda
Uganda will not renew the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations which must end this year, considering that it has "developed dynamic internal institutions on human rights", announced Wednesday to AFP the government, immediately criticized by the opposition.
"The whole of Uganda is
peaceful and we have developed dynamic internal institutions (...) such as the
Uganda Human Rights Commission," said Henry Oryem Okello, Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs, to justify the non-renewal of the mandate of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, established since 2005 in this East African country.
"Our human rights record
has improved considerably over the years under the leadership of President
Museveni," he said.
President Yoweri Museveni has
ruled Uganda with an iron fist since 1986.President Yoweri Museveni
The Ugandan authorities
informed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in a letter sent on
February 3, consulted by AFP, stating that "the government will continue
its cooperation with the OHCHR headquarters directly or through its permanent
mission in Geneva.
The decision was criticized by
Muwada Nkunungi, a member of the National Unity Platform led by Robert
Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, one of the main opponents of President Yoweri
Museveni.
"The Museveni government
is paranoid. It is not surprising that they are not renewing the mandate
because they fear strict respect for human rights," Muwada Nkunyingi told
AFP, continuing: "The government wants to violate human rights without
hindrance.
The human rights office in
Kampala has not yet responded to requests from AFP.
During the last presidential
election in 2021, journalists were attacked, lawyers imprisoned and several
opposition leaders muzzled.
An expert member of the UN
Committee against Torture said in November 2022 that "torture and
ill-treatment" remained "widespread and frequent in Uganda.
Uganda ranks 132nd (out of
180) in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index compiled by the journalists' rights
NGO Reporters Without Borders.
No comments:
Post a Comment