HRCU WEEKLY UPDATE: ISSUE NO. 30 OF 2022
THE HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE UGANDA
(HRCU)
WEEKLY UPDATE ON THE KEY EMERGING
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES WITHIN THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT OF HRDS IN UGANDA
THE WEEK OF 15TH TO 21ST
AUGUST, 2022
Welcome
to a new week!
Please
receive and read through some of the compiled stories on human rights
issues/concerns that emerged last week. HRCU commends the different HRD
organizations that are actively engaging in activities aimed at strengthening
the relationship between government and the civil society sector. Engagements
by Defenders Protection Initiative and Global Rights Alert which happened last
week are very fundamental in strengthening and improving on the working
environment of HRDs in Uganda, especially those working in specific areas such
as the extractive industry.
Some
of the key emerging issues included the following:
ENHANCING GOV’T CSO
RELATIONS: PLATFORM CREATED TO ADDRESS ISSUES BETWEEN NGOS, REGULATORS
Non-government
Organizations asked the government to relax the punitive regulations affecting
the operations of the entities.
During
the launch of the Talk to Your Regulator event organized by Defenders
Protection Initiative on August 18, 2022, the team leader of Defenders protection
Initiative Yona Wanjala said among the punitive regulations that the government
should consider scrapping off is the Shs2 million fine paid by the NGOs when
they fail to file their monthly returns to the National NGO bureau.
He
made the remarks at an engagement meeting where over 600 non-government
organizations were addressing the issues affecting their operations to the key
regulators.
The
Talk to your regulator program aims at creating dialogue spaces for the NGO
actor players, and inform and engaging with different regulators.
Mr
Yona Wanjala called upon both the NGOs and the regulators to respect the
dialogue space that has been created and to come up with solutions affecting
the sector.
The
Executive Director of the NGO Bureau, Stephen Okello commended DPI for coming
up with such a platform that is going to solve the issue of mistrust between
the NGOs and the government.
Source:https://www.kfm.co.ug/news/platform-created-to-address-issues-between-ngos-regulators.html
HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
SLAM UHRC BOSS ON CIVILIAN TORTURE
A section of human rights activists
attacked Mariam Wangadya, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC)
chairperson, for recklessness and complicity in the abuse of human rights.
UHRC is the government body tasked with
monitoring and advancing human rights in Uganda. This follows Wangadya’s
remarks on August 1 in which she asked for the amendment of torture laws to
curb civilian attacks on armed forces.
“I
have learnt that our men and women in uniform are inhibited from effectively
defending themselves against violent attacks because of laws like the
Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act which provides for individual
liability. I think it is time for us to review the efficacy of these laws,”
she said during the opening of a four-day training workshop for UPDF senior
officers on human rights at Gadaffi barracks in Jinja city.
Wangadya cited the civilian raid on a
police post in Pader that left it razed down as well as the killing of a
traffic officer by thugs along the Kampala- Gulu highway in Luweero. She went
on to praise the UPDF for its high level of discipline. Alex Kiguli, the
executive director of Center for Human Rights Protection, said Wangadya’s
remarks are unfortunate to assume that civilians purposely attack armed forces.
“Such
a statement coming from the human rights ombudsman is regrettable because it
puts the lives of civilians at risk,” he said.
Source and details: https://observer.ug/news/headlines/74781-human-rights-activists-slam-uhrc-boss-on-civilian-torture
PROMOTING THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION: GOVT TO START REGULATING SCHOOL FEES
The Minister of State for Education,
Joyce Moriku reassured Members of Parliament that government has developed a
statutory instrument to regulate school fees and other school related matters.
She was responding to a matter of
national importance raised by Samuel Opio, Kole North County MP during plenary
sitting on August 16, 2022.
The MP who was concerned about the plan
by schools to increase fees, called for government intervention.
“The
schools’ conference is planning to increase school fees in the third term as a
result of increased prices of essential commodities. Earlier on, we had that
there were plans to lay statutory instruments to regulate school fees,” he
said.
He warned that increasing school fees
will further affect the enrolment of learners, which is already very low.
Source: https://www.independent.co.ug/govt-to-regulate-school-fees/
PROMOTING ACCESS TO JUSTICE: 16 NEW HIGH
COURT JUDGES DEPLOYED, 19 OTHERS TRANSFERRED
Sixteen newly-appointed acting High
Court judges were on Monday August 15, 2022 evening deployed to their duty
stations.
Also in his deployment notice,
Principal Judge, Dr Flavian Zeija, caused the transfer of 19 judges to new duty
stations. He said the deployment of the new judges takes immediate effect while
those on transfer, will have their dates of duty communicated to individual
officers.
The deployments have seen new High
Court circuits such as Iganga, Tororo, Luwero, Hoima, Rukungiri and Moroto get
resident judges for the first time.
The appointment of the judges brings
the number of High Court judges to 72 up from 56. The current approved High
Court structure is 82.
The Justice ministry has tabled a
Cabinet proposal to amend the Constitution in an effort to increase the numbers
of judges across board
NGOs URGED TO SIGN MOUs WITH DISTRICTS
WHERE THEY OPERATE
The Albertine region has many
activities relating to oil and gas and indeed CSOs are working to see that
these resources are governed in a manner that is in line with the aspirations
of the National Development Plan III.
It is against this background that the
Global Rights Alert proposed to conduct a regional dialogue between Civil
Society Organizations (CSOs), Human Rights Defenders, Local Government, NGO
Bureau, and Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to discuss the state of civic
space for NGOs working on natural resources and governance.
The Executive Director Global Rights
Alert, Winfred Ngabiirwe called upon government agencies not to cause divisions
among NGOs but rather bring good arguments on the table in the developing of
the oil and gas sector amidst the need to conserve the environment.
The Non-Governmental Organizations -NGO
Act of 2016 repealed the Non-Governmental Organizations Act (Cap 113) in order
to provide a conducive and enabling environment for NGOs in Uganda.
Objectives of the dialogue were to create
a space for dialogue between government and civil society in order to discuss
the state of civic space in the extractive sector.
On that note, Mr Stephen Okello, the
Executive Director, NGO Bureau said, ‘‘we
have plans to sensitize national level security agencies on the role of NGOs to
improve the civic space. The sensitization will eventually be cascaded to lower
levels of the district and sub-counties.”
CONCLUDING REMARKS
1.
As the recognition of the NGO sector by the government continues to grow and the government trying to ensure that the sector is
compliant with regulations/laws, the creation of platforms such as “Talk to Your Regulator” by Defenders
Protection Initiative contributes immensely towards improving on the working
environment of HRDs in Uganda and the entire civic space. Important to note, the NGO sector supplements government
plans and programs, and therefore, improved relations and affinity between government/regulator
and the NGO sector remain of great paramount in both ensuring sustainability
and effectiveness of the sector and also contributing to national development.
2.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) provides for the right to education and further
notes its importance to a child. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
quality education is considered as one of the most powerful elements in
uplifting socially excluded children and adults out of poverty and amplifying
their voices to become better citizens. Locally, this right is provided for
under Article 30 of the Uganda Constitution, and it obliges the
government to ensure that all children in Uganda access quality and free
education. Therefore plans by the Ministry of Education to regulate school fees,
will gear up the enjoyment of this right especially during this post Covid-19 period as many learners have reportedly botched to enjoy this right due to high
fees.
3. The enjoyment of human rights remains a collective role in which both the right holder (citizenry) and duty bearer (the state) must work together. The right holder must enjoy rights responsibly since rights can be limited and also the duty bearer especially security personnel must at all times apply elements of the human rights-based approach.
Thank
you for reading. Looking forward to receiving your feedback
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