Protest against Uganda's President Museveni in Dam Square in Amsterdam. Protesters holding banners against the country's president Yoweri Museveni, accusing him of an authoritarian junta regime, committing genocide, torture, and killing of innocents. Banners were against EU and UK politicians while some demonstrators taped their mouths to show the silence and pressure to the press and the public opinion, hiding the corruption, killings, the and the lack of human rights. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
I joined the United Nations’ celebrations on 24 October, the day on which the UN Charter came into force 79 years ago after the end of World War II.
But then my thoughts turned to August 2023, when the government of Uganda, for no clear reason, terminated the mandate of Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) after operating for 18 years in the country.
At the time, the high commissioner “expressed concern about the period ahead of the 2026 elections, given an increasingly hostile environment in which human rights defenders, civil society actors and journalists are operating”.
The OHCR’s role worldwide is to promote and monitor effective implementation of international human rights standards at the national level, advance the rule of law and perform core protection functions such as preventing torture and degrading treatment.
As an elite group popping champagne in five-star hotels we behave like all is well, but the glaring gaps in ensuring human rights are observed and the decline in the rule of law in Uganda can’t be swept under the carpet.
The human rights violations of certain sections of the population have attracted sanctions and trade embargoes from the United States and United Kingdom.
The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) is clearly unable to fulfil the human rights oversight role previously carried out by the UN human rights commission in Uganda because of political corruption, human resource gaps and a small budget.
It’s crystal clear that Uganda still needs the UN human rights commission for its impartiality and because it funded civil society organisations that employed thousands of Ugandans and supported human rights.
I remember that it used to offer capacity building programmes on human rights to journalists, security officers and MPs.
The silence regarding the on-going human rights violations such as abductions, torture and injustices is too loud.
I have also noticed that a former Uganda Human Rights Commission representative now openly works for Uganda’s National Resistance Movement government.
We are yet to see the United Nations resident coordinator fill the void left by the closure of the office of the UN human commission. During her term we have yet to see her condemn human rights violations and election maladministration.
The UN often uses a line “leaving no one behind”, which prompts me to ask a key question: can she afford to close her ears and eyes amid the glaring political injustices and diminishing rule of law.
As citizens we expect the prestigious UN multilateral board to monitor and hold governments accountable.
I am not proposing altercations between any member state and UN but I demand to see serious actions from the UN against political injustices, declining rule of law and human rights violations.
Imagine a mother of two, Olivia Lutaaya, who was abducted in 2021 and was detained for almost four years, was sentenced to three months and 22 days by Makindye military court.
The use of child labour at mines continues to be the order of the day in Bulisa, Kasanda, Kalamoja and Buhweju
When people protest peacefully against corruption and inequalities they are brutally arrested?
Civil society organisations advancing human rights and accountable governance are closed.
Draconian laws targeting key populations and civic spaces are passed by parliament.
The silence of the UN is louder than thunder.
It neglects its responsibility of arguing that abductions, torture, corruption, unfair elections, bad governance and inequalities are internal matters of a sovereign state.
I am left pondering whether it is okay for the UN to periodically convene political heads to make cosmetic statements but can’t afford to summon them for violation of human rights.
The UN must renew its commitment to safeguarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and advancing the rule of law.
The UN must consider discussions with the Ugandan government for speedy negotiations to bring back the UN human rights commission before the 2026 elections.
Robert Kigongo is a sustainable development analyst.