In only a few short days after news of Bobi Wine’s arrest initially broke, global observers in Africa and beyond turned their attention toward Uganda for fear of the People Power leader’s wellbeing at the hands of President Yoweri Museveni’s security forces.
Among the distressed international observers is Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based NGO that recently published its interpretation of Bobi’s umpteenth arrest and continued harassment by state security forces in the early days of 2020.
“Uganda’s constitution guarantees the right to freedom of assembly but just over a year away from the general election, these clampdowns do not bode well for how it will be conducted.”
The article’s author, HRW Researcher Mr. Oryem Nyeko, describes how Wine’s latest arrest fits within a larger pattern of brutal and often unpunished conduct of Ugandan police at various political opposition rallies and events. Mr. Nyeko also explains how the Public Order Management Act is “overly-broad,” and has frequently been used to justify blocking, restricting and dispersing peaceful meetings and demonstrations by opposition groups.
This past week Ugandan authorities harshly clamped down on political opposition and journalists – a troubling sign ahead of the 2021 elections.https://t.co/cGj1Klg3OA pic.twitter.com/upJcQVe9ny
— Oryem Nyeko (@oryembley) January 9, 2020
Read the full article from Human Rights Watch, here.