Ugandan activists welcome top court’s ban on military trials for civilians, demand release of opposition leader

Human rights groups in Uganda have welcomed the recent ruling by the country’s Supreme Court that trying civilians in military courts is unconstitutional as a major step in protecting the right to a fair trial, with Amnesty International calling for the release of Kizza Besigye Kifeefe, a prominent opposition figure.
Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, has been in jail since his abduction from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where he went missing on 16 November last year. He has since been undergoing trial by the country’s general court martial, initially facing charges related to illegal possession of a firearm and threatening national security, that were later expanded to include the more serious offense of treachery, which carries the death penalty. But Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled on 31 January declaring military trials of civilians unconstitutional and ordering officials to halt all ongoing military trials of civilians and transfer them to the country’s civilian court system.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is a major step to protect the right to a fair trial in Uganda,” said Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW). “The Ugandan government should finally ensure justice for the many civilians wrongly convicted under these military trials as well as those awaiting trial,” he added. Also opposition leaders in the East African nation have demanded Besigye’s release. But Ugandan long-time president Yoweri Museveni criticized the ruling, arguing the country is not governed by judges but by the people. Besigye, a qualified physician who retired from Uganda’s military at the rank of colonel, is a fierce critic of Museveni, with whom he fell out in the 1990s over what he said was the president’s slide into authoritarianism.

About Geraldine Boechat 2989 Articles
Senior Editor for Medafrica Times and former journalist for Swiss National Television. former NGO team leader in Burundi and Somalia