KAMPALA, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Uganda’s government has ordered two local rights groups to halt their work days before Thursday’s election, which the United Nations Human Rights Office says is taking place in an atmosphere of repression and intimidation.
The authorities have detained hundreds of opposition supporters, the UN agency had said in a report in November, ahead of the January 15 election in which President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is looking to extend his four-decade rule.
Museveni, who came to power in 1986 after leading a five-year rebellion, is Africa’s third-longest ruling head of state.
He has changed the constitution twice to remove age and term limits, and his dominance of Ugandan institutions means there is little prospect of an election upset in the East African country of 46 million, political analysts say.
WATCHDOGS HAVE SPOKEN OUT ABOUT RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
The two watchdogs told to stop their work, Chapter Four Uganda and Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-U), have denounced rights violations including the alleged arbitrary detention and torture of opposition supporters and journalists.
The state-run National Bureau for NGOs, in a letter to Chapter Four seen by Reuters on Tuesday, said it had received information the watchdog was involved in activities “prejudicial” to Uganda’s security and “should cease operations … with immediate effect.”
The UN Human Rights Office said in a report on Friday that the police and military had used live ammunition to disperse peaceful rallies, conducted arbitrary detentions and abducted opposition supporters ahead of the vote.
A Ugandan government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the report.
STATE NGO TOLD RIGHTS GROUPS TO HALT OPERATIONS
Robert Ssempala, who heads HRNJ-U, told Reuters he had received the same letter ordering his organisation to stop operating.
Stephen Okello, head of the state NGO bureau, confirmed to Reuters that he had written the letters.
Last month, police raided the house of Sarah Bireete, an outspoken critic of rights violations and a frequent guest on local political talk shows and radio stations, and detained her.
She was charged with offences related to unlawful disclosure of voter information. She denied the charges and remains in jail.
The government has defended the security forces’ actions as a justified response to what it called lawless conduct by opposition supporters.
(Editing by Vincent Mumo Nzilani, Alexander Winning and Bernadette Baum)
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