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Transcript/ScriptUGANDA-UN-RIGHTS-OFFICE TV/R
HEADLINE: Ugandan Activists Decry Closure of UN Human Rights Office in Uganda
TEASER: Activists say despite promises, the government is unwilling to uphold rights
PUBLISHED AT: 02/12/2023 at 2:26 pm
BYLINE: Halima Athumani
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Kampala, Uganda
SCRIPT EDITORS: dlj, cobus, mas
VIDEO EDITOR:
VIDEO FROM: VOA,
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:49
VIDEO APPROVER: MAS
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[Activists and opposition in Uganda have cried foul at the government’s decision to close the United Nations human rights office in the country. Halima Athumani reports from Kampala, Uganda.]]
((NARRATOR))
The Kampala office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights was established in 2006 to focus on the human rights situation in conflict affected areas in north and eastern Uganda but was later expanded to the rest of the country.
On February 9, the mandate of the U.N. human rights office effectively ended three years after Uganda last renewed it.
A government letter dated February 3rd says Uganda is not renewing the mandate because there is prevailing peace, the country has strong human rights institutions and a civil society that can monitor, promote and protect human rights.
But human rights groups are protesting the decision.
((Livingstone Sewanyana, Ugandan Human Rights Activist (English))
((“For the last couple of years, we are aware that Uganda’s civil society has been weakening. The civic space has been shrinking. And increasingly we are also aware that the Uganda human rights commission’s capacity has been growing less and less. Now, it is the time to rebuild that.”
((NARRATOR))
In February 2021, after Uganda’s general elections, Bobi Wine, the leader of the opposition National Unity Party platform, delivered a petition to the U.N. human rights office in Kampala.
The petition was to protest human rights abuses and abductions of his supporters in the run up to and after that year’s presidential election, won by longtime President Yoweri Museveni. Journalists covering the petition were beaten up in front of the office.
Speaking to VOA, Wine says the abductions continue. He says the party does not have any trust in the National Human Rights Commission office to deliver justice to victims and their families.
((Bobi Wine, National Unity Platform Party (English))
“I’m not surprised. And I don’t think any Ugandan should be surprised. That is General Museveni’s modus operandi. Whenever he’s called to account in regard to human rights violations, he will react in a rather ominous way.”
((NARRATOR))
Reacting to the closure, the U.S. ambassador to Uganda said citizens must ensure human rights are respected.
((Natalie Brown, US Ambassador to Uganda - English))
“There are many ways to protect those rights. They can be enshrined in law, but we have to uphold the law. And we have to hold security forces and elected officials, and those in executive positions, they have to be accountable when individuals’ rights are violated.”
((NARRATOR))
The Ugandan government says despite the closure of the Kampala office, it will continue its cooperation with U.N. human rights officials through their headquarters or their permanent mission in Geneva.
((Halima Athumani, for VOA News, Kampala, Uganda))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Halima Athumani, for VOA News, Kampala, Uganda
Embargo DateFebruary 12, 2023 16:02 EST
Byline
((Halima Athumani, for VOA News, Kampala, Uganda))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
