Editorial: Government needs to uphold human rights commitments

Midway through this week, upon the return of opposition figurehead Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, to the country, journalists and other politicians were beaten and unjustly detained by police, in violation of international human rights laws to which Uganda is a signatory.

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This week, the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, revealed that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will close its offices in Uganda today, Sunday, August 6, 2023.

This development follows the Government of Uganda's decision to end the mandate of the office. This move was criticised by quite a number of players, including civil society, who said that the absence of the office in Uganda would only lead to increased human rights violations in the country.

In a letter issued by the office on Friday, August 4, 2023, Türk expressed alarm about the period leading up to the 2026 elections, citing the increasingly hostile atmosphere in which human rights activists, civil society actors, and journalists operate.

Several incidents, such as the brutality of security agencies towards journalists, people demonstrating peacefully, kidnapping of Ugandan citizens, and wrongful arrest without trial, have continued to put Uganda in a bad light as a country whose people’s human rights are only secondary to Government priorities.

In the period leading up to the 2021 presidential and parliamentary elections, over 50 people lost their lives as a result of police and military brutality towards them.

Following gross human rights violations before and during World War II, the United Nations General Assembly, of which Uganda is a member, drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to help avert any future human rights violations.

The document also highlighted some of the rights world citizens are entitled to, such as freedom of expression, the right to life and liberty, and the right to recognition, among others. This has, however, not stopped some countries—or heads of state in this case—from going off track.

Being a member of the United Nations General Assembly means that Uganda has made commitments to protect the human rights of its citizens and those of all world citizens.

The exit of the OHCHR has brought about fears that human rights violations in the country will most likely become worse.

The Government of Uganda needs to uphold the commitments it has made to uphold the human rights of its citizens.