Opposition activists petition British Prime Minister
By Norman S. Miwambo
13th June 2011:
L-R: Moses Luzinda & Richard Semitego delivering petition
UK based leaders of Uganda’s top opposition parties have petitioned the British Prime Minister Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP to denounce the ‘brutal’ law enforcement methods that President Yoweri Museveni’s government adopted in its recent attempts to crackdown on the legitimate ‘walk-to-work’ and pro-democracy protests that have rocked the country since April 11th this year.
Operating under their umbrella organization called Uganda Pro-Democracy Forum (UPDF), the Diaspora opposition leaders called on David Cameron to condemn human rights abuses in Uganda. The petition, which was signed by the group’s Chairman Moses Luzinda, DP’s Chairperson Betty Atiku, FDC-UK Chapter Chairman Dr. Chris Kamugisha, Mr. Lanana Obwana of UPC, and SSUUBI Co-ordinator Richard Semitego said:
“…Uganda Pro-democracy Forum calls upon the UK government as the largest donor country to Uganda to play a decisive leadership role in denouncing Uganda’s brutal, inhumane methods of law enforcement that are contrary to the Constitution of Uganda and internationally recognized human rights standards”.
The petitioners also implored Mr. Cameron to use his influence over Museveni’s government to push it to investigate, indentify and prosecute members of Uganda’s security agencies who were involved in the shooting of unarmed people during the protests. The group also highlighted the growing trend of state agents camouflaging themselves in civilian clothes whilst shooting and killing innocent civilians; a practice which the group says, “…makes accountability impossible”.
In particular, the petitioners made reference to the video footage showing plain clothed security operative Gilbert Arinaitwe smashing Dr. Besigye’s vehicle before spraying him with pepper spray and brutally arresting him. Dr. Kizza Besigye was almost blinded and spent nearly two weeks getting treatment at Nairobi hospital in Kenya.
The petition is the latest attempt by the opposition and human rights activists to lobby the international community to take the same stance as it has done in the Arab world and force President Museveni to adhere to the rule of law rather than using unconstitutional means when handling the protestors.
The petitioners also asked David Cameron to urge President Museveni to respect the freedom of the media. In his May 17th letter, Museveni accused the media of being enemies of the state. “…Media houses, both local and international, such as Al-Jazeera, BBC, NTV, The Daily Monitor etc that cheer on these irresponsible people are enemies of Uganda’s recovery and they will have to be treated as such”, Museveni said.
Museveni also called on the media to stop what it was doing because, in Museveni’s view, Uganda “…belongs to Ugandans not newspapers or radio stations”. The petitioners also demanded the unconditional release of all the pro-democracy activists that were arrested unlawfully or that they be arraigned expeditiously before the courts of law.
Uganda is one of the biggest recipients of British financial aid with the provisional budget for the next four years standing at an estimated £390 million. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
