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Paris-Geneva, September 3, 2024 – Since
May 2024, at least 81 environmental rights defenders and activists
protesting against large-scale oil projects in Uganda have been
arrested. This marks an escalation of the repression, highlighting a
severe attempt to silence civil society, in violation of the rights
to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression, as
opposition to these projects grows. The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) urges the Ugandan
authorities to put an immediate end to this escalating crackdown on
civil society.
Just in the month of August 2024, 72 human rights defenders and local community members were arbitrarily arrested and detained, as protests against oil projects grow in Uganda. The repression has been intensifying as large-scale oil projects are
advancing in the region, including the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), Kingfisher and Tilenga projects, owned and operated by the French company TotalEnergies and Chinese state-owned enterprise China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), in cooperation with the governments of Uganda and Tanzania.
On
August 26, 2024, 21 activists, were arrested as they were marching
towards the Parliament, TotalEnergies head office and CNOOC offices
in Kampala to hand in a petition against the EACOP project. According
to their lawyer, seven of the activists arrested are members of
communities affected by the EACOP project. Twenty of them were held
at the Buganda Road police station before appearing in court on
August 27, 2024, where they were, charged with “common nuisance”
and remanded to Luzira prison until September 3, 2024. On September
3, 2024, the 20 activists, including seven impacted community
members, appeared in court. However, the magistrate was absent and
consequently they have been further detained until they can appear in
court again on September 5, 2024. The remaining arrested activist
was detained at Jinja Road Police Station and was released on August
27, 2024, after the police took down his contact details to reach him
in case of further proceedings. On the day of their arrests, several
simultaneous protests were being held across the country.
On
August 9, 2024, 47 students were arrested by police officers in
Kampala, as they were engaged in a peaceful protest against the EACOP
project. They aimed to march towards the Parliament
of Uganda to deliver a petition opposing the project and urging the
Ugandan government to sign a fossil-free treaty. However, 45 students
were arrested before reaching the Parliament, as they were travelling
in taxis, and two other students were arrested in front of the
Parliament. Three drivers were also arrested. On August 10, 2024, 45
out of the 47 activists, who had been detained at the Jinja Road
Police Station, were released. The two other activists, Kalyango
Shafik
and Oundo
Humphrey,
who had been held at the Central Police Station in Kampala, were
charged with "inciting violence". They were released on
police bond on August 14, 2024, which compels them to report to the
police whenever required.
On
August 5, 2024, three Ugandan activists and
a
Belgian activist, were arrested as they were marching towards the
Chinese embassy in Kampala to present a petition urging the Chinese
government to withdraw its support to CNOOC, a minority stakeholder
in the EACOP project, one of the Joint Venture partners in the
Tilenga and Kingfisher projects, and the lead operator of the latter.
They were released on police bond, the three Ugandan activists on the
same day of the arrest and the Belgian activist on August 6, 2024.
These
arrests bring the total number of arrests linked to these large-scale
oil projects to at least 81 since May 27, 2024. This repression
particularly affects individuals who participate in peaceful protests
against the EACOP and Kingfisher projects. The
Observatory
recalls that on June 5, 2024,
Adriko
Sostein
was arrested and subsequently released on police bond on June 6, 2024
and on
May 27, 2024, Bob
Barigye,
Noah
Katiiti,
Newton
Mwesigwa,
Julius
Byaruhanga,
Desire
Ndyamwesigwa,
Raymond
Binntukwanga,
and Jealousy
Mugisha Mulimbwa
were
also arrested in Kampala and released on police bond on May 28, 2024.
Cases
of torture in detention, judicial and moral harassment, threats and
intimidation against environmental rights defenders and activists
have also been reported. On June 4, 2024
Stephen Kwikiriza
was abducted and detained incommunicado for six days, after having
received threats from the Uganda People’s Defence Force deployed at
Kingfisher project area. He was reportedly tortured in detention,
including severe beating requiring hospitalisation, deprivation of
food for a day and a half, and humiliation.
The
dramatic rise in the number of arrests in the last four months
underscores the escalation of the repression. The Observatory recalls
that Jealousy
Mugisha Mulimbwa
had already been arbitrarily arrested
on December 14, 2019 and
Bob
Barigye
was also arbitrarily arrested on January 24, 2023 and released on
bail on January 27, 2023. In addition to the violations mentioned
above, the Observatory reported since 2020 numerous cases of legal
and judicial harassment and intimidation against
against
individuals
and organisations
defending human and environmental rights in the context of oil
project development affecting local populations’ well-being and
biodiversity.
The
human rights and environmental impacts and risks linked to the
mentioned oil projects have been repeatedly denounced by civil
society, affected communities and environmental and human rights
organisations, including FIDH,
particularly for their social and environmental impact in Uganda and
Tanzania. Recently, more regular protests have been held in
opposition to the oil projects, as construction of oil sites is
accelerating and companies scramble to secure project financing, both
from states and private actors.
Recommendations
:
The
Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to put an end to the
repression against human and environmental rights defenders,
immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and put an end to
any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, and any act
of intimidation against human rights defenders.
The
Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to abide by their human
rights obligations under the Ugandan Constitution, the African
Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights to respect, protect, promote, and
fulfil the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of
expression. Uganda’s authorities need to take urgent action to
investigate the recent escalation of the repression and take measures
to allow human and environmental rights defenders to work freely.
The
Observatory further calls on the
companies
and investors involved
in the oil projects, in line with their human rights
responsibilities,
to take action to respond to community grievances in an adequate and
timely manner, to investigate alleged
human rights abuses which seem to be connected to their projects
in Uganda,
and exercise their leverage on the Ugandan authorities to put an end
to this escalating repression.
Additionally, TotalEnergies should abide by its own prior commitments to respect the rights of human rights defenders. The company emphasised publicly in April 2023 the “extensivemeasures which TotalEnergies subsidiaries in Uganda and Tanzania [had taken] to protect the rights of Human Rights Defenders (HRD) and to exercise leverage on relevant authorities in accordance with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs)”. Observing the escalating crackdown, the Observatory calls on TotalEnergies to urgently reinforce the measures that it has allegedly taken to protect human rights defenders.
The
Observatory calls upon international and intergovernmental
organisations as well as governments and other diplomatic actors to
condemn this repression and increase the scrutiny on the escalating
situation facing human and environmental rights defenders in Uganda.
The Observatory further call upon them to reinforce the protection
mechanisms to allow human and environmental rights defenders to
continue their legitimate actions safely.
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