A local NGO, the Human Rights Network-Uganda (HRINET-U) has issued a report citing cases of members from opposition parties who have gone missing, while others who have been arrested have not been charged or been brought before the courts. The report also says security organizations are believed to be favoring incumbent president Museveni. It sites incidents when Uganda’s main opposition leader and flag bearer of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Kizza Besigye, was twice stopped by police on his way to a campaign rally in Kabale district in south western Uganda. The reason the police gave, was that Besigye intended to disrupt business at a market on his way to his campaign venue. Such incidents have raised concerns whether the electoral process will be free and fair.
According to one of the authors of the report, Patrick Tumwine, the majority of the arrested political activists are from upcountry. “There have been continued arrests of different actors in the country who are associated with different political groups,” he said. Some have been charged, while others have been detained for over 48 hours in contradiction to the law.
Solome Nakawesi, a coordinator of candidate Amama Mbabazi’s Go Forward camp, said they have reported numerous cases of rights abuses to the police but no action has been taken.”We have up to 13 people that are missing in Kampala and Rukungiri districts, including a bishop who has been detained but has not been arraigned in court,” Nakawesi said.
“We have raised all these cases with the electoral commission and the police but we are disappointed that there is not so much expediency in ensuring that these issues are resolved,” she added.
Full Article: Uganda: Fears of violence ahead of elections | Africa | DW.COM | 04.02.2016.