GENEVA: The United Nations deplored Wednesday an intensifying crackdown on the opposition and media in Uganda ahead of next month’s general election, urging impartial investigations into alleged arbitrary arrests, disappearances and “torture.”
The UN rights office highlighted “credible reports” indicating that at least 550 people, including members and supporters of the main opposition National Unity Platform party (NUP) and presidential candidate Bobi Wine, had been arrested and detained since the start of the year.
More than 300 of them had been arrested since campaigning began in September ahead of the January 15 presidential vote, as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his 40-year rule.
“Many of those arrested remain in custody, facing charges ranging from public nuisance and disobedience of lawful orders to assault, obstruction, and incitement of violence,” it said in a statement.
The rights office also pointed to how heavily armed security forces had been deployed at locations where NUP was scheduled to conduct rallies.
“They have also used tear gas, whips, batons, water cannon and chemical irritants among other weapons during the rallies to disperse NUP supporters, injuring many people,” it said, adding that last week they also reportedly used “live ammunition” at a rally for Wine in eastern Iganga town, where at least one person was killed.
“It is deeply regrettable that election campaigns have once again been marked by widespread arbitrary arrests, detentions and the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force against the opposition,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in the statement.
“I urge Ugandan authorities to cease the use of such repressive tactics.”
The rights office also highlighted that reports of enforced disappearances, torture and other ill treatment of opposition supporters and activists had been rising steadily over the past year.
Turk called on Ugandan authorities “to fully and impartially investigate” all such allegations, release those “arbitrarily detained, and “punish those accountable and provide full reparation to the victims.”
Wednesday’s statement also decried restrictions of press freedoms, highlighting recent cases where journalists had their accreditation withdrawn apparently due to critical reporting.
Dozens of journalists were also assaulted or had their equipment confiscated or damaged by security operatives during a parliamentary by-election in Kawempe North constituency in March, it said.
“The Ugandan authorities must halt all violence against the media and the opposition and act fully in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law,” Turk said.
UN decries Uganda crackdown ahead of vote
https://arab.news/zp4c8
UN decries Uganda crackdown ahead of vote
- The UN rights office highlighted 'credible reports' indicating that at least 550 people had been arrested and detained since the start of the year
- Rights office also highlighted that reports of enforced disappearances, torture and other ill treatment of opposition supporters and activists
Myanmar, Afghan hopeful scholars mourn UK study visa ban
- Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas
- Britain’s travel block is “really painful” for Afghan women hoping to escape to an education abroad, said one female
YANGON, Myanmar: Aspiring students are lamenting Britain’s ban on education visas for their war-weary countries — dashing dreams of bettering themselves and their home nations.
Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining university visas, London announced this week, saying asylum applications by visiting students had “rocketed” nearly 500 percent from 2021 to 2025.
“It’s like the country is punishing the weak, the most vulnerable people,” said one woman from Myanmar.
She was preparing for a scholarship interview for a master’s in climate change finance when her plans were upended by Downing Street’s decree on Wednesday.
“I could not focus the whole morning,” the 28-year-old told AFP from Yangon, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons in a country riven by civil war since a 2021 military coup.
“I can’t picture my future.”
Like in much of the developed world, immigration has become a divisive issue in Britain.
Efforts to beat back arrivals mirror the sweeping travel bans issued by US President Donald Trump which have shut out citizens of Myanmar, Sudan and Afghanistan.
Since the chaotic military withdrawal of Britain, the United States and other NATO nations in 2021, Afghanistan has been ruled by a resurgent Taliban government which has banned women over age 12 from attending school.
Britain’s travel block is “really painful” for Afghan women hoping to escape to an education abroad, said one female child social worker in Ghazni province, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
She has now canceled her plans to study for a master’s in both the US and the UK.
“Now I am trying to be hopeful, but I think it would also be a mistake,” said the 27-year-old.
In the summer of 2024, Arefa Mohammadi fled to neighboring Pakistan, living in limbo as she applied to universities.
She got an offer to study public health in England but now cannot accept it.
“It was truly shocking for me,” said the 24-year-old.
“This situation put me in a place where I haven’t any goals, because all my goals and all my futures are unpredictable.”
- ‘Cruel and short-sighted’ -
In Kabul, a 39-year-old man faces similar heartbreak.
He was accepted to study specialist subjects related to water management at three universities in England and Scotland.
“When I was a child I witnessed several challenges like flash floods, water scarcity, environmental neglect, inefficient irrigation systems,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for security reasons. “To address these challenges I made my application.”
“I hoped to acquire modern knowledge. It’s impossible to acquire in Afghanistan,” he added.
Some 33 million people in the country face severe water shortages, aid agencies say, a result of compounding multi-year droughts, climate change and infrastructure battered by decades of war.
Britain’s Labour government made the decision to curb visas as the right-wing Reform UK party surges in opinion polls with its hard-line stance against immigration.
The UK Home Office said almost 135,000 asylum seekers had entered the country through legal routes since 2021.
Activist organization Burma Campaign UK called the visa ban “exceptionally cruel and shortsighted.”
“The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar,” said program director Zoya Phan in a statement.
One exiled Myanmar journalist has been living over the border in Thailand after escaping the military rule which has clamped down on press freedoms.
“When the military coup happened I was just 22, so I had a lot of dreams,” she said. “But over the past five years there have been a lot of struggles — I couldn’t complete my dreams.”
Every year since the junta takeover she applied for further education to buoy her spirits.
But she received an email Thursday morning canceling her place to study for a master’s at a London university.
“Everything is gone,” she said. “My UK dream is all disappeared.”
