KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Human rights violations including extrajudicial killings in Uganda in recent years have raised the concern of a panel of United Nations experts.
The U.N. Human Rights Committee in findings released Wednesday also urged authorities in the East African country to repeal a recently enacted law that prescribes the death penalty for some homosexual acts.
The committee pointed to reports of arbitrary arrests and detention by police and security forces targeting political opponents, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, sex workers, and LGBTQ+ people.
The panel’s report was its first review of Uganda since 2004.
A government spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the committee’s findings.
Uganda’s security forces face growing allegations of brutality in their encounters with perceived opponents of the government of President Yoweri Museveni, a U.S. ally who has held power since 1986.
Cases of extrajudicial killings “should be looked upon and perpetrators punished,” the U.N. panel said, urging Uganda’s security forces to “stick strictly to the principles of necessity and proportionality.”
The opposition National Unity Platform party has led calls for Museveni and some members of his security personnel to face possible criminal charges at the International Criminal Court. While Museveni has condemned some security personnel for using excessive force when dealing with civilians, his critics say he should be held responsible for abuses committed under his watch.
Source: AP
