The United Nations on Friday called for upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Uganda to be safe for all involved and warned against the use of violence against protesters.
Veteran leader Yoweri Museveni, 81, has been in power since 1986 and is aiming for a new term of office in the January 15 vote.
His main opponent is the popular 43-year-old singer Bobi Wine — real name Robert Kyagulanyi — who has become the face of the opposition.
But the UN Human Rights Office said repression and impunity have become entrenched in Uganda since the last vote in 2021, with restrictions on free speech and the right to protest.
Rights chief Volker Turk said authorities in Kampala should ensure that everyone can take part “fully and safely”.
“They must… ensure that no unnecessary force, including lethal force, is used to disperse peaceful protests,” he said in a statement.
His office detailed in a report that a number of laws have been used in the last three years to “silence those with dissenting views” and the vote was taking place “in an environment marked by widespread repression and intimidation”.
Opposition leaders and activists have been arrested and detained, political party officers raided and property confiscated.
Radio stations have been suspended, bloggers arrested and control tightened over NGOs, it added.
“Undue restrictions” have been imposed on opposition parties, particularly Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP), while another leading opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, was kidnapped in November 2024 while in Kenya.
He is still in detention in Uganda on “questionable treason charges”, the UN said.
Amnesty International on Monday said that Ugandan security forces had used torture and arbitrary arrests to intimidate the opposition before the election.
That included security officers beating and using tear gas against NUP supporters, the global rights monitor said.
The UN also reported excesses by the security forces, including the unlawful use of firearms and live ammunition to disperse peaceful gatherings, arbitrary arrests and prolonged pre-trial detention.
Security forces had abducted opposition party members and supporters using unmarked vans, known as “drones”, holding them incommunicado at unauthorised “safe houses”.
Dozens of people were killed during campaigning at the last election in 2021 and the authorities cut off the internet before polling day.
Fears of the same tactic have risen since Uganda restricted the import of Starlink and other satellite internet receivers in December.