Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations the UK High Commissioner has made to the Government of Uganda on alleged disappearances of and attacks on opposition activists and journalists in that country.

The UK Government is very concerned about the treatment of opposition candidates and their supporters in the run-up to and since the Ugandan elections. We are particularly disturbed by continued reports of people who are missing or arbitrarily detained. This does not provide for an open political landscape within which democracy can flourish and Uganda can prosper.

Our High Commissioner in Kampala has repeatedly raised concerns about opposition supporters going missing or being arbitrarily detained directly with the Ugandan authorities. I [Minister Duddridge] also raised this in my call with the Ugandan Foreign Minister, Sam Kutsea, on 21 April. We have pressed publicly and privately for information on missing persons to be released and due process to be followed. We welcome the Minister for Internal Affairs' recent update to Parliament regarding those currently in detention, but now need to see all those in detention released or charged. As a long-standing partner to Uganda, the UK will continue to press for the rights of all Ugandans to be upheld.