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The
Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary detention and
judicial harassment of Dr. Sarah
Bireete,
a human rights lawyer, Executive Director of the Center for
Constitutional Governance (CCG), Chairperson of the East and Horn of
Africa Elections Observers Network (E-HORN), as well as a member for
the international human rights defenders group known as Vuka Allies,
for Uganda. She has specific interests in good governance, civic
space, electoral democracy and land rights, among others, and has
been a vocal critic of the present government.
On
30 December 2025, Ugandan security forces raided the house of Sarah
Bireete and arrested her, before taking her to Natete Police Station
in Kampala.
On
2 January, 2026, three days later (longer than the 48 hours allowed
by the Constitution), Sarah Bireete was presented to the chief
magistrates’ court in Kampala on charges related to accessing the
national voters’ registry. She was charged with “unlawfully
obtaining or disclosing personal data” (under Section 35 (1) and
(2) of the Data Protection and Privacy Act, Cap. 97). The authorities
claimed
that she had, between January and December 2025, “at various places
within Uganda, including Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso Districts,
unlawfully obtained or disclosed data, to wit National Voter’s
Information, controlled or processed by the Electoral Commission,
without prior consent of the said Electoral Commission”. She was
remanded in Luzira prison, where she is currently detained at the
time of publication of this Urgent Appeal.
During
those three days, police officers interrogated Sarah Bireete about
her social media posts critical of the government and Uganda’s
President Yoweri Museveni, who is running for a seventh five-year
term in the general elections, which will take place on 15 January
2026. Her bail hearing was set for 21 January 2026, which means that
she will remain in detention at least until after the elections,
thereby impeding her from participating in her country’s political
life, including voting and expressing herself on the management and
results of the elections.
On
8
January 2026,
Special mechanisms of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights (ACHPR) shared
their concerns about the arbitrary detention of Sarah Bireete in
a Joint Letter of Urgent Appeal transmitted to His Excellency Yoweri
Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda.
The
Observatory considers that this arrest raises serious concerns about
the treatment of electoral observers and all those seeking to
independently monitor and criticise the upcoming general elections.
The
Observatory recalls
that this pre-election period has been marred by systematic
repression and restrictions on fundamental freedoms, which threaten
to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. With the
country's main opposition leader imprisoned, hundreds of supporters
arrested, journalists assaulted, digital communications having been
shutdown since 13 January at 6pm local time, and organisations
suspended – including Sarah Bireete’s organisation “Center
for Constitutional Governance",
Uganda's elections risk taking place in an environment incompatible
with free and fair democratic competition.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial
harassment of Sarah Bireete, which seem to be only aimed at punishing
her for her legitimate human rights activities and impeding her from
criticising the upcoming elections’ management.
The
Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to immediately and
unconditionally release Sarah Bireete and put an end to any act of
harassment, including at the judicial level, against her and all the
human rights defenders in the country, especially in the context of
the upcoming general elections.
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