Uganda (Human Rights)

Margot James Excerpts

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon]

Yes, human trafficking is a massive issue. My hon. Friend is well known for supporting and championing that issue. Northern Ireland had its first human trafficking conviction yesterday. Hopefully, that will be the first of many such convictions in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom as well.

In the six years since the signing of the cessation of hostilities agreement, many displaced persons have returned to their homes and a rehabilitation and redevelopment programme is under way. However, standards of living are nowhere near what we in the western world would deem to be acceptable. I know that it is unfair to draw a comparison between the western world and Uganda, but in fact the conditions in Uganda remain closer to shocking than to any semblance of acceptability. If we think of the worst standard of living and then go beyond that, that is what it is like in some places in Uganda.

What is Uganda like now in terms of its Government? The President of Uganda is Yoweri Kaguta Museveni; I say that with my Ulster Scots accent. He is both Head of State and Head of Government. The President appoints a vice-president, who is currently Edward Ssekandi, and a Prime Minister, who is currently Amama Mbabazi, and they aid him in governing the country. The Parliament is formed by the national assembly, which has 332 members, of whom 104 are nominated by interest groups, including women and the army, so there is some representation for other groups in the country. The remaining members are elected for five-year terms in general elections.

Uganda is rated by Transparency International among the countries that it perceives as being “very corrupt”. Transparency International has a scale measuring corruption ranging from zero, which means “most corrupt”, to 10, which means “clean”. Uganda has a rating of 2.4, so it is right up there when it comes to human abuse and the violation of rights.

Under Idi Amin in the 1970s, Christians suffered restrictions and even intense persecution. The current Ugandan Government does not officially restrict religious freedom any longer. However, religious oppression still occurs in individual cases.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. Does he agree that, although the human rights situation in Uganda improved after Idi Amin, since Museveni’s so-called re-election a few years ago things have got decidedly worse? In Uganda, there have been a lot of arrests, restrictions on the press and abuse of human rights on a general scale that is getting worse by the day.

[Jim Shannon]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. I will speak about some of the human rights abuses in Uganda shortly, but they are at a worse level now than they have ever been in the past. Idi Amin was ousted, but at the end of the day what took his place was not necessarily for the betterment of the Ugandan people, and the hon. Lady has very clearly said that.

As I was saying, religious oppression occurs in individual cases, especially against Christians from a Muslim background. Where such Christians are threatened, the Ugandan state does not always seem able to protect them effectively prior to an attack or to provide them with justice following an attack. I will give three examples to illustrate that point. I know of these examples because of the Open Doors charity, which is a group that works on behalf of persecuted Christians right across the world.

The first example is that of Bishop Umar Mulinde, who was an Islamic teacher before his conversion to Christianity. Since then, he has often criticised Islam and has had to rely on police protection while preaching at large Christian gatherings throughout Uganda. Because of the threats he received, he and his family had to relocate within Kampala, the capital city. On 24 December 2011—Christmas eve—he was attacked by Islamic extremists outside his Gospel Life church in Kampala. The attackers were able to pour acid down his back and on to his face, leaving him with severe facial burns. The acid blinded one eye, which doctors had to remove, and threatened the sight in his other eye. His attackers were able to contact him after the incident to say:

“We are happy that the acid has disfigured your face, and also disappointed because our intention was to kill you.”

The second example is also important. It is that of Hassan, a former sheikh and a former member of a violent Islamic group. In 2007, he started exploring Christianity and was warned by his associates not to

“make such a mistake again—we are ready to help you. If you continue with this move, then we will destroy you.”

He reported the threats to the police in the sub-county of Insanje, in the Wakiso district. In response, his associates sent other threatening letters. He became a Christian in June 2011 and received more death threats, which forced him to flee to Kenya. He returned to Uganda in September 2011 and received further death threats. He reported those threats to the police in Chengera, who told him that they would investigate. However, in October 2011 he heard of a plan to kill him and he again fled Uganda. He is now in hiding in Kenya again, and his movements are severely restricted following yet more threats to kill him.

The third example is that of a 13-year-old girl from the Kasese district. She was placed under house arrest for converting to Christianity. Her father threatened to slaughter her publicly with a knife for converting, before locking her up instead. For six months, he kept her in a room with no sunlight. She survived only on the food and water that her little brother managed to smuggle to her under the door. When she was rescued, she weighed less than 44 lb and had many medical complications. In fairness, the local police acted quickly when they were made aware of the case and arrested her father. However, they released him without charge soon afterwards. Again, where is the law of the land in Uganda when people, such as that young girl, need it most?

What support is being given by Britain to deal with cases such as those? Perhaps the Minister, in his response to the debate, can indicate whether Britain has had any direct contact with the Ugandan Government, particularly regarding these types of cases. I understand that we cannot police Uganda, but surely we can guarantee that any help and support that is given by Britain is going to the right people. I know that the needs of Uganda are great and I also know that there are Members in Westminster Hall today who have visited the country. I have not visited Uganda itself, but I have visited nearby countries. A good foundation is needed in Uganda and the open protection of Christians is required to show that persecution in any form will not be tolerated, that religious freedom is a protected freedom and that all people should be able to live in peace and practise their faith as they strive together to rebuild Uganda.

Amnesty International has said:

“The Uganda government and various public authorities have in recent years resorted to illegitimate restrictions on the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in response to some of the critical voices on a number of governance issues. In particular, journalists, civil society activists, opposition political leaders and their supporters risk arbitrary arrest, intimidation, threats and politically-motivated criminal charges for expressing views”.

That echoes the point that the hon. Member for Stourbridge (Margot James) made in her earlier intervention.

[Margot James]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way again; he is being very generous in doing so. I wanted to share the experience that I had while visiting Uganda in 2009 to mark international women’s day. I was appalled to read recently that Amnesty International have reported that Ingrid Turinawe has been arrested. I met Ingrid on my 2009 visit. She was an officer of the opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change, and a leading women’s campaigner. It is appalling to think that she has been arrested for nothing other than organising assemblies and trying to exercise her right to protest.

[Jim Shannon]

I agree with the hon. Lady that it is absolutely scandalous that that should happen. We live in a democratic society where we exercise our democratic rights and the people who vote for us do so as well, and examples such as that of democratic rights being restricted, blatantly wrong imprisonment and so on, are issues that I wholeheartedly want to highlight today, and hopefully our Government can get some response from the Ugandan authorities about such cases.

Amnesty International has also said:

“The measures taken by the authorities violate Uganda’s international and domestic human rights obligations”—

I share that view and the hon. Lady has also made that point—

“and have culminated in widespread official intolerance of criticism of some of the government’s policies and practices and a crackdown on political dissent.”

We cannot accept that, we cannot let it happen and we have to highlight it today.

A recent report by Amnesty International also highlights its concerns about official repression of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as well as the failure to hold to account the perpetrators of human rights violations committed against political activists, journalists and civil society activists. Those perpetrators are not being held to account and they should be. The report focuses on the general clampdown on the right to freedom of expression, in particular press freedom, between 2007 and 2011, and on the official intolerance of peaceful public protests regarding rising costs of living in April and May 2011. The official response to those protests involved the widespread use of excessive force, including lethal force on many occasions, to quell protests. It also involved the arrest, the ill-treatment and the levelling of criminal charges against opposition leaders and their supporters; the imposition of restrictions on the media; and attempts to block public use of social networking internet sites.

A proposal by the President in May 2011 to amend the Ugandan constitution to remove the right to bail for persons arrested for involvement in demonstrations and other vaguely defined “crimes” points to increasing repression of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. That proposal also illustrates that what we have today in Uganda is a repressive system of Government that is taking away the basic rights of Ugandan citizens. Of course, Ugandan officials deny that there are undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly, and they contend that various Government actions are justified. However, international human rights law places clear limits on the restrictions that may be imposed on the exercise of those rights. A number of proposed laws in Uganda contain provisions that, if enacted, would result in impermissible restrictions on the exercise of those rights, which I believe would breach Uganda’s obligations under international law. So, Uganda is stepping outside the rules and regulations of international law. Perhaps the Minister can give us some idea of how this Government—our Government and my Government—are working to ensure that we address these issues.

Some cynics will say that we have enough difficulties in our own nation without borrowing trouble from others. I have even heard some people say that we should not give other countries financial aid when we are reducing the deficit, and that we should not become embroiled in political situations. I say clearly that we have to help other countries. This Government have led the way and have increased their portion of financial aid. I say well done to them for what they are doing. Christian Aid is one of the organisations that has lobbied us all. I fully and totally support the Government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend is entirely right. We do not have the resources to send troops in directly, but through the UN, we can help to bolster operations, perhaps in the DRC, so that we can put greater efforts into trying to capture a man who is, I repeat, an indicted war criminal. He is highly mobile and never sleeps in the same place, so capturing him requires considerable resources, particularly helicopters, so that our troops can keep ahead of the game and catch up with him.

As the hon. Member for Strangford said, in recent weeks and months, we have seen a rapid descent and some of the most appalling abuses of human rights under the regime of the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni. The police and security forces now regularly use lethal force, especially during political demonstrations, and I should like to address the crackdown on opponents of the Museveni Government. Ever since his so-called re-election in May 2011, there has been a wave of opposition demonstrations, many of which have ended up in violence. Opposition politicians, their supporters and journalists all too often face harassment, beatings and arrest.

The leader of Uganda’s main opposition party, the Forum for Democratic Change, Dr Kizza Besigye—a reasonable man whom I have met on a number of occasions—was recently attacked at an FDC rally, where police and military personnel surrounded him and cut him off from his supporters. They crushed his car screen and prevented him from leaving the scene.

Ever since the advent of the first multi-party elections in 2006, the Museveni Government have done whatever they can to prevent any opposition from playing on a level playing field. Before those elections, Dr Besigye was arrested on trumped up charges of treason and rape in an effort to prevent him from standing. On the occasions that I have met him, he has had to get special permission to leave the country, because he is still subject to those trumped up charges.

In another, more recent, incident, which I discussed with the Minister for Africa, the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for North West Norfolk (Mr Bellingham), Dr Besigye was leading a small demonstration by Activists for Change—the so-called A4C—outside a Government building, when a rock thrown from within that building hit a plain-clothes policeman, who subsequently, and unfortunately, died. The Minister for Africa told me these facts, so I know them to be correct. It seems reasonably clear that this was nothing whatsoever to do with Dr Besigye or any of his followers, yet scores of people were arrested, along with Dr Besigye, who was subsequently charged with unlawful assembly and placed under house arrest for a time.

The Ugandan Government declared on 4 April 2012 that A4C was an “unlawful society”, ahead of a planned demonstration on 5 April. The Ugandan Attorney-General, Peter Nyombi, also declared that, should members of A4C attempt to form a new group, that would also be banned—something that transpired after the members of A4C formed the new group called “For God and My Country”. The same Attorney-General said:

“If the old pressure group members are the same office bearers, the group remains illegal.”

Police and security forces continue to harass and disturb events and rallies organised by opposition supporters. At a recent meeting of the International Democrat Union’s Africa branch in Kampala, delegates—international delegates coming into Uganda—were harassed by the police force, which forced the Fairway hotel to cancel the IDU’s booking and attempted to force the Grand Imperial hotel to deny the IDU space.

Last week, several people, including a 12-year-old girl, were injured and shops closed in a one-hour battle between police and supporters of Dr Besigye, as the police attempted to stop him from accessing the Nakasero market simply to have his lunch.

Only yesterday, several women were arrested as they protested at the brutal manner in which the opposition FDC Women’s League leader, Ingrid Turinawe, was arrested last Friday. My hon. Friend the Member for Stourbridge (Margot James) has already mentioned that incident, but it bears repetition. Ms Turinawe was assaulted on Friday as the police blocked a rally called by the opposition in Nansana, outside Kampala. Ugandan television footage clearly shows that, as several officers tried to pull her out of her vehicle, she was sexually assaulted and she is heard shouting out in pain. This is all part of a downward trend in the ability of political opposition in Uganda to fulfil its basic rights and to protest peacefully.

Worryingly, a proposed Public Order Management Bill, which is before the Ugandan Parliament, could further limit freedom of expression for demonstrators, if passed in its current form. Under the Bill, public meetings will be prohibited in certain circumstances. It will prohibit public meetings that are aimed at discussing Government policies and affairs of management. For journalists, the Bill will limit their role of seeking, receiving and imparting information, which is a vital aspect of freedom of expression and democracy. Journalists, along with political demonstrators, are also increasingly coming under attack by police and security forces.

The Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda documented 107 cases of attacks on journalists in 2011, compared to 58 in 2010 and 38 in 2009. That demonstrates a worrying trend.

[Margot James]

My hon. Friend mentions a number of repressive measures currently before the Parliament of Uganda. Is he aware of another Bill, which is being introduced in this session, that seeks to institutionalise further discrimination against the gay and lesbian minority and reintroduce the proposals current 18 months ago to implement the death penalty for having same-sex relationships? Is he as appalled as I am about that? Does he call on the Government to review aid strategy in the light of all the human rights abuses that we are hearing about this morning?

[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]

My hon. Friend does the House a service in bringing attention to such matters. When the highly discriminatory measures that she mentions—I totally deplore them—came before the previous Ugandan Parliament, they were subject to a lot of international criticism. If they are to be persisted with, which it seems that they are, I hope that Britain will join further international protests to try to prevent them from happening. The proposals are highly discriminatory.

Journalists in Uganda have been subject to shootings, attacks, arrest and detention. They have been prevented from accessing news scenes and their equipment has been taken away. Such actions are in violation of international human rights law and must be deplored. The UK has a particular responsibility in respect of Uganda and a deep-seated interest in the events taking place. As a member of the Commonwealth, we have a long and shared history with that country. Through the Department for International Development, we will spend an average of £98 million per year in Uganda until 2015.

As the country has many natural resources—in particular, emerging finds of oil— Uganda has transformed from a failed state to a fast-growing economy. The abuses of human rights taking place, however, are simply unacceptable. The Minister with responsibility for African affairs is fully aware of events on the ground in Uganda—he visited the country recently, when he met with President Museveni and Dr Besigye—so I hope that he takes note of what has been said today.

Through the African Union and the Commonwealth, pressure must be applied to the Ugandan Government to uphold their responsibilities to their people. As a country, Uganda has huge potential. It must, however, take action to rectify the seriously deteriorating human rights situation that has developed and that has accelerated since the recent election. I am always hesitant about criticising people who cannot answer for themselves, but my perception is that in the past Ministers and Foreign Office representatives on the ground in Kampala have been far too timid in their meetings with President Museveni in protesting about human rights abuses and, in particular, the right of the opposition to carry out their normal democratic functions. I sincerely hope that I am wrong, and I very much hope that the Minister will be able to reassure me that that is not the case.

I urge the UK Government to continue to support the rights and freedoms of all Ugandans and their efforts to persuade the Ugandan authorities to respect people’s constitutionally guaranteed right to the peaceful exercise of the freedoms of speech and of assembly that we expect in any civilised, modern, democratic state. Furthermore, the UK Government must encourage the Ugandan Government to ensure that the actions of the police and the security forces should be proportionate to the events that actually take place on the ground.