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also decried restrictions of press freedoms, highlighting recent cases where journalists had their accreditation withdrawn apparently due to critical reporting.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
Trump sues the BBC for defamation over editing of January 6 speech, seeks up to $10 billion in damages
- A BBC spokesperson told Reuters earlier on Monday that it had “no further contact from President Trump’s lawyers at this point
- The BBC is funded through a mandatory license fee on all TV viewers, which UK lawyers say could make any payout to Trump politically fraught
WASHING: President Donald Trump sued the BBC on Monday for defamation over edited clips of a speech that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol, opening an international front in his fight against media coverage he deems untrue or unfair. Trump accused Britain’s publicly owned broadcaster of defaming him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021 speech, including one section where he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another where he said “fight like hell.” It omitted a section in which he called for peaceful protest.
Trump’s lawsuit alleges the BBC defamed him and violated a Florida law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. He is seeking $5 billion in damages for each of the lawsuit’s two counts. The BBC has apologized to Trump, admitted an error of judgment and acknowledged that the edit gave the mistaken impression that he had made a direct call for violent action. But it has said there is no legal basis to sue.
Trump, in his lawsuit filed Monday in Miami federal court, said the BBC despite its apology “has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.”
The BBC is funded through a mandatory license fee on all TV viewers, which UK lawyers say could make any payout to Trump politically fraught.
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said in a statement the BBC “has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda.”
A BBC spokesperson told Reuters earlier on Monday that it had “no further contact from President Trump’s lawyers at this point. Our position remains the same.” The broadcaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the lawsuit was filed.
CRISIS LED TO RESIGNATIONS
Facing one of the biggest crises in its 103-year history, the BBC has said it has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary on any of its platforms.
The dispute over the clip, featured on the BBC’s “Panorama” documentary show shortly before the 2024 presidential election, sparked a public relations crisis for the broadcaster, leading to the resignations of its two most senior officials.
Trump’s lawyers say the BBC caused him overwhelming reputational and financial harm.
The documentary drew scrutiny after the leak of a BBC memo by an external standards adviser that raised concerns about how it was edited, part of a wider investigation of political bias at the publicly funded broadcaster.
The documentary was not broadcast in the United States.
Trump may have sued in the US because defamation claims in Britain must be brought within a year of publication, a window that has closed for the “Panorama” episode.
To overcome the US Constitution’s legal protections for free speech and the press, Trump will need to prove not only that the edit was false and defamatory but also that the BBC knowingly misled viewers or acted recklessly.
The broadcaster could argue that the documentary was substantially true and its editing decisions did not create a false impression, legal experts said. It could also claim the program did not damage Trump’s reputation.
Other media have settled with Trump, including CBS and ABC when Trump sued them following his comeback win in the November 2024 election.
Trump has filed lawsuits against the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and a newspaper in Iowa, all three of which have denied wrongdoing. The attack on the US Capitol in January 2021 was aimed at blocking Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win over Trump in the 2020 US election.
