ISSUE NO.46 OF 2021
WEEKLY UPDATE ON HUMAN
RIGHTS AND KEY EMERGING ISSUES WITH IN THE WORKING ENVIROMENT OF HRDS
THE WEEK OF TO 29TH
NOVEMBER to 5TH DECEMBER 2021
Welcome
to a new week dear HRDs.
We
are happy to enter into December with you and also hope to end the year in a
few days. We have compiled several stories like the Ministry of health
receiving more 3 Million COVID19 Vaccines of J&J from the government of
Germany to beef up the ongoing vaccination campaign https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/uganda-receives-3m-doses-of-j-j-vaccines-from-germany-3642092 and also, commemoration of World
Aids day saw scientists assuring the country that HIVAIDS won’t be a public health
threat by 2030 https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/aids-won-t-be-public-health-threat-by-2030-scientists--3637176 and many more stories as compiled
in this week’s issue.
As
you read through more stories in this week’s issue, allow us to start with the COVID19
updates as compiled below:
COVID19 UPDATES
Results
of COVID-19 tests done on 4 December 2021 confirm 34 new cases. The cumulative
confirmed cases are 127,689
The
breakdown of the new cases is: 34 Alerts and contacts; Wakiso (16), Kampala
(12), Kalaki (3), Napak (1), Mbarara (1), Amuru (1)
Source:
https://twitter.com/MinofHealthUG
PROMOTING COVID-19
VACCINATION: GLOBAL VACCINATION PLAN ONLY WAY TO STOP PANDEMIC, SAYS UN CHIEF
The
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday 01stDecember
2021 urged that “the only way out of a global pandemic and out of this unjust
and immoral situation is through a global vaccination campaign.”
The
secretary-general was speaking at a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York
of Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77 (G77) and China, where he noted that
the COVID-19 pandemic “continues to wreak havoc” on developed and developing
countries alike.
He
said that the UN stands behind the vaccination strategy set out by the World
Health Organization, with the goal of getting vaccines into the arms of 40
percent of people in all countries by the end of this year, and 70 percent by
the middle of 2022.
Source:
https://www.independent.co.ug/global-vaccination-plan-only-way-to-stop-pandemic-says-un-chief/
MORE COVID19
DONATIONS:UGANDA RECEIVES 3M DOSES OF
J&J VACCINES FROM GERMANY
The Minister of Health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng on Saturday
received 3,050,400 doses of the J&J vaccine donated by the government of
Germany through the COVAX facility under the dose sharing arrangement.
The Germany Ambassador to Uganda Matthias Schauer
Botschafter, who handed over the vaccines indicated that an additional 2.4
million doses of the same vaccine would arrive on December 9, 2021.
COVID19 VACCINE DISTRIBUTION: J&J
COVID-19 VACCINES RESERVED FOR HARD TO REACH AREAS.
The Ministry of Health will distribute Johnson &
Johnson COVID-19 vaccines to hard to reach areas, according to Health Minister
Dr Jane Ruth Aceng.
She added that the single-shot jab will be preserved
for residents of Karamoja, as well as the islands of Kalangala and Buvuma, among
other hard to reach areas. Uganda has secured close to 5 million doses of the
vaccine which was developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson
& Johnson, to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older.
GET VACCINATED AGAINST
COVID-19: UNVACCINATED PEOPLE WON’T BE ALLOWED IN KAMPALA NEXT YEAR – MINISTER
Government
will not allow people who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 to operate in the
city come January 2022.
The
state minister for Kampala and metropolitan affairs, Kabuye Kyofatogabye made
the announcement in Kikuubo – the city’s wholesale hub.
He
repeatedly sounded the ultimatum in both English and Luganda to ensure everyone
gets the message properly.
Kabuye
explained that non-vaccinated people being deviants, should operate from
elsewhere where there is big work space so that they work without spreading the
disease.
Government will not allow people who are not vaccinated against
Covid-19 to operate in the city come January 2022.
Source: https://www.independent.co.ug/unvaccinated-people-wont-be-allowed-in-kampala-next-year-minister/
COVID-19
RUMINATION AND SAFETY TIP
As countries around the world are trying to contain
the spread of the new omicron COVID19 variant, it remains crucial for us to
uphold the safety measures of washing hands, keeping a 2-metre social distance,
wearing a face mask while in public and avoiding crowded places especially that
the festive season is underway and also the president of the republic of Uganda
promised to fully open up the economy next year in January which is a few days
away which will only happen if we continue to observe these measures and most
important , get vaccinated and hit the targeted number as the country is
continuing to receive more COVID19 donations from partner countries
HUMAN RIGHTS AND EMERGING STORIES
PROMOTING
ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE: CJ OWINY-DOLLO TO FIGHT FAVOURITISM
IN JUDICIARY
Justice Owiny-Dollo said the Judiciary appointment
letters clearly state that every judicial officer should be ready to be
deployed and work in any part of the country including hard-to-reach areas.
“This tendency of having some magistrates rotated
around Kajjansi, Nabweru, Nakawa, and others rotated in Ssingo, Kisoro should
stop. There won’t be a Kaabongo magistrate and a Kampala magistrate. Your
appointment letter says you will work in all parts of the country,” he said,
attracting an applause from more than 200 magistrates and registrars, who were
attending a two-day annual conference in Kampala, yesterday.
Chief
Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo. PHOTO/FILE
FIGHTING&
PUTTING AND END TO HIV AIDS:AIDS WON’T BE PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT BY 2030 –
SCIENTISTS
As Uganda commemorated World Aids Day which is on
every 01st December of each year, government scientists said the
country is on track to end HIV/Aids as a public health threat by 2030.
It is now four decades since the first case was
reported in Rakai District, but the disease is still killing more than 20,000
people each year.
Infections totaling nearly 38,000 are also
registered annually in the country, according to statistics from the Uganda
Aids Commission (UAC).
Dr. Nelson Musoba, the director-general of UAC,
told Daily Monitor yesterday
that there is a clear sign that the country is soon defeating HIV/Aids.
Source and details:https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/aids-won-t-be-public-health-threat-by-2030-scientists--3637176
FREEDOM
OF EXPRESSION& DEFENDING MINORITY RIGHTS:TWITTER SHUTS PROPAGANDA ACCOUNTS
IN UGANDA, FIVE OTHER COUNTRIES
Twitter on Thursday 02nd December 2021
said it had shut down nearly 3,500 accounts that were posting pro-government
propaganda in six countries, including Uganda, Chinaand Russia. The
vast majority of the accounts were part of a network that "amplified
Chinese Communist Party narratives related to the treatment of the Uyghur
population in Xinjiang," Twitter said in a statement.
China faces accusations of grave human rights
violations against the ethnic minority in the northwestern province, where
experts have estimated that more than one million people are incarcerated in
camps.
In
Africa, 268 accounts were shut down for targeting civil rights group
FichuaTanzania, along with 418 that "engaged in coordinated inauthentic
activity" in Uganda to promote President Museveni (pictured).
Source and details: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/twitter-shuts-propaganda-accounts-in-uganda-five-other-countries-3639292
PERSUING
TERORRISTS:UPDF ARTILLERY POUNDS ADF CAMPS IN DRC
DRC and Uganda confirmed that they started targeting
ADF camps with aerial and artillery fire.
“As announced, targeted and concerted actions with the Ugandan army began
ON 30th November 2021 with airstrikes and artillery fire from Uganda
on the positions of ADF terrorists in the DRC,” said
Patrick Muyaya, Government spokesperson, Minister of Communication and Media.
UPDF Spokesperson Brig. Flavia Byekwaso also
confirmed the joint operation. ” This morning, we have launched joint air and
artillery strikes against ADF camps with our Congolese allies.”
DRC-based rebel outfit ADF have been blamed for the
recent bomb attacks in Uganda that killed at least six.
DRC Govt Spokesman Muyaya
confirmed the air strikes
Source
and details: https://www.independent.co.ug/updf-artillery-pounds-adf-camps-in-drc/
FIGHTING AND PUTTING
AN END TO GBV:GBV PREVALENCE IN UGANDA
REMAINS HIGH DESPITE EFFORTS TO ADDRESS IT, SAYS US AMBASSADOR NATALIE
The United States Ambassador to Uganda HE Natalie E
Browncalled upon cultural leaders and other stakeholders to commit themselves
and form a collective effort to eliminate all violence against women and girls
in Uganda.
Speaking during her visit to Gender based Violence
shelter in Bwaise, H.E. Natalie said that concerted efforts are very important
because during the COVID-19 pandemic Gender based violence rates soared all
over the world and its incumbent upon all citizens in Uganda to participate in
the elimination of GBV.
US Ambassador to Uganda H.E Natalie Brown during
the Gender Based Violence GBV Dialogue in Bwaise Kampala
THE RIGHT TO GRANTION
OF BAIL:BUGANDA ROAD COURT GRANTS
AILING MP SSEGIRINYA BAIL
Buganda Road Court granted bail to ailing Kawempe
North MP, Muhammad Ssegirinya who is battling charges of incitement to
violence.
During
a Thursday audio-video conferencing session presided over by grade one
magistrate, Ms Doreen Olga Karungi, the MP who’s currently on remand was
ordered to pay Shs1 million cash while his two sureties were each bonded Shs10
million not cash.
The
magistrate then set December 22, 2021 as the date when she will start hearing
the case in which Mr Ssegirinya who subscribes to the opposition National Unity
Platform (NUP) party is accused of posting on his Facebook fans page a massage
allegedly calculated to incite the public against a section or group of
Ugandan population while relating it to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
Kawempe North
MP Muhammad Ssegirinya displays his foot while appearing at Buganda Road
Magistrate's Court on October 15, 2021. He told court that he sustained
injuries from torture meted out to him after his arrest. PHOTO/ RUTH ANDERAH
THE RIGHT TO HARBEOUS
CORPUS:STATE ORDERED TO PRODUCE SHEIKH KIREVU'S WIDOWS, SISTER
The
state had up to December 6 to produce the widows of slain Sheikh Abas Muhammad
Kirevu before High court judge, Musa Ssekaana.
"This
is to command you to attend Court in persons or by your representative in the
High court of Uganda before a judge…immediately after the receipt of this out
writ. the bodies of Amina Nabadda. Sofia Nakachwa and Mariam Najjuko being
taken in your custody as is said together with the day and cause of heir being
taken and detained by whatsoever name…” reads the order.
Justice
Ssekaana issued the order following an application by Amina Nabadda and Sofia
Nakachwa, both widows of the late Sheikh Kirevu and their sister-in-law, Mariam
Najjuuko through their lawyers of Nalukoola, Kakeeto Advocates and Nyanzi,
Kiboneka and Mbabazi Advocates.
The
trio was arrested by security forces during a raid on their residence in
Busabala-Makindye Ssabagabo Division, Wakiso district on November 18, 2021. The
operatives arrested Sheikh Kirevu and shot him dead for his alleged links to
the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Source:https://observer.ug/news/headlines/72042-state-ordered-to-produce-sheikh-kirevu-s-widows-sister
HUMAN RIGHTS OBSERVATIONS:
- As the joint forces of Uganda and DR Congo are pursuing to crack down the ADF rebels, we appeal to these countries to observe human rights standards at all times during their operations since it is very common for human rights violations to occur while carrying out military operations especially against rebel groups.
- The right to personal liberty is one of the most
important human rights. It is fits well with the right to freedom from
arbitrary arrest and detentions hence the writ of habeas corpus prevents legal
authorities from wrongfully detaining individuals.
- As the 16 days of activism campaign continues, we
should note that fighting Gender Based Violence is a collective effort which
doesn’t require only one person or one group but all groups whether affected or
not affected by the vice.
- The move by the Chief Justice to put an end to
favoritism in the judiciary is a huge step in ensuring the promotion of access
to justice for all Ugandans in each part of the country. Judicial officers
should aim at doing their work in an expeditious way to ensure that all people
appearing before them leave satisfied and with ability to trust or believe in
the judicial system.
We thank you for the immeasurable work you are doing in protecting, promoting and ensuring the realisation of human rights in the country. Let’s keep on keeping on. Together we achieve more.
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