Description of the situation:<\/p>\n
The Observatory has been informed about the suspension of at least seven human rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including Chapter Four Uganda, Alliance for Election Finance Monitoring (ACFIM)<\/a>, Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-U)<\/a>, the National NGO Forum<\/a>, the Center for Constitutional Governance<\/a>, the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, and African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV)<\/a> – member of the OMCT SOS-Torture network.<\/p>\n On 9 January 2025, the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO Bureau), under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, suspended the operating permit of the above-mentioned seven human rights organisations with immediate effect. In the letters sent to the organisations, the NGO Bureau mentioned \u201cintelligence information\u201d and justified the suspension by alleging prejudice “to the security and the laws of Uganda” in violation of Section 42(d) of the NGO Act Cap. 109 (as amended).\u00a0According to these letters, all the operations of those NGOs should be ceased pending the conclusion of investigations which, according to the Bureau, should be conducted “within reasonable time”.\u00a0The NGO Bureau further requested the Inspector General of Police to ensure compliance with the suspension orders.<\/p>\n The directive also extends to the financial operations of the affected seven human rights organisations. In the suspension letters, copied to the Executive Director of the Uganda Bankers Association, the Bureau asked banks holding the organisations\u2019 accounts to freeze all transactions pending the outcome of the investigations. This implies the closure of the offices of the above-mentioned NGOs, the suspension of all their operational activities, as well as suspension of payments for staff and service providers, among others.<\/p>\n The Observatory considers that these suspensions of NGOs raise serious concerns about the freedom of association in Uganda, as well as about the treatment of electoral observers and all those seeking to independently monitor and criticise the upcoming general elections, taking place on 15 January 2026.<\/p>\n The Observatory recalls<\/a> that this pre-election period has been marred with systematic repression and restrictions on fundamental freedoms, which threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. With the country\u2019s main opposition leader imprisoned, hundreds of supporters arrested, journalists assaulted, human rights defenders arbitrarily detained, such as Dr. Sarah Bireete<\/a>, Executive Director of Center for Constitutional Governance, affected by this suspension- and digital communications having been shutdown since 13 January at 6pm local time, Uganda\u2019s elections risk taking place in an environment incompatible with free and fair democratic competition.<\/p>\n The Observatory strongly condemns the suspension of the operating permit of Chapter Four Uganda, Alliance for Election Finance Monitoring (ACFIM), Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-U), the National NGO Forum, the Center for Constitutional Governance, the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, and African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), which seems only aimed at punishing them for their human rights activities and impeding them to take any critical position in the context of the upcoming general elections.<\/p>\n The Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to immediately and unconditionally overturn the suspension orders against the above-mentioned seven human rights NGOs, and to respect, in all circumstances, the right to freedom of association as enshrined in Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 29 (1)(e) of the Ugandan Constitution.<\/p>\n Actions requested:<\/p>\n Please write to the Ugandan authorities urging them to:<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0Immediately and unconditionally overturn the suspension orders against Chapter Four Uganda, Alliance for Election Finance Monitoring (ACFIM), Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-U), the National NGO Forum, the Center for Constitutional Governance, the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, and African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV) ;<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0Ensure strict respect for fundamental freedoms in the context of the upcoming general elections, and in particular guarantee in all circumstances respect of the freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of association, as guaranteed by international human rights law, in particular by Article 19, 21 and 22 of the ICCPR, to which Uganda is party;<\/p>\n \u2013\u00a0Ensure that human rights defenders and organisations in Uganda are able to carry out their legitimate activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all undue restrictions, including arbitrary detention, torture, or other sanctions.<\/p>\n Addresses:<\/p>\n \u2022 Mr\u00a0Kaguta Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, E-mail: museveni@starcom.co.ug \/ aak@statehouse.go.ug, X: @KagutaMuseveni Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Uganda in your respective countries.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Paris-Geneva, 14 January 2026<\/p>\n Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.<\/p>\n The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu<\/a>, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.<\/p>\n To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
\n\u2022 Ms Robinah Nabbanja, Prime Minister of the Republic of Uganda, Email: ps@opm.go.ug, X: @RobinahNabbanja
\n\u2022 Mr\u00a0Jeje Odongo Abubakher, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uganda, X: @UgandaMFA
\n\u2022 Hon. Norbert Mao, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda, Email: info@jlos.go.ug \/ info@justice.go.ug
\n\u2022 Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Attorney General of Uganda, Email: info@jlos.go.ug \/ info@justice.go.ug
\n\u2022 Ms Jane Frances Abodo, Director of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of Uganda, Email: admin@dpp.go.ug
\n\u2022 Ms Mariam Fauzat Wangadya, Chairperson, Uganda Human Rights Commission, Email: uhrc@uhrc.ug
\n\u2022 H.E. Mr.\u00a0Marcel Robert Tibaleka, Permanent Mission of Uganda to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: chancery@ugandamission.ch
\n\u2022 H.E. Mirjam Blaak Sow, Embassy of Uganda to the EU in Brussels, Belgium. Email: ugembrus@brutele.be, info@ugandamission-benelux.org<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 E-mail: alert@observatoryfordefenders.org
\n\u2022 Tel FIDH: + 33 1 43 55 25 18
\n\u2022 Tel OMCT: + 41 22 809 49 39<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Description of the situation: The Observatory has been informed about the suspension of at least seven human rights…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[153],"class_list":{"0":"post-23350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uganda","8":"tag-uganda"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}