By Kabuye Ronald
The GENERATION NEXT student movement have condemned the unprecedented closure of the United Nations Human Rights office in Uganda terming it as an act of cowardice and a cover-up to evade accountability, international scrutiny while committing human rights violations and suppression of freedoms.
In their press release, the students said that closure comes as a shock to them at the time when Uganda is facing its worst human rights violations in decades characterized by torture, kidnaps, unlawful arrests, detention and forced disappearance of Ugandans especially members of the Opposition political parties including students who critic and advocate for good governance and human rights and freedoms of Ugandans or ill treatment of suspects, di-humanizing the suspects without following due legal processes.
Ruth Asiimwe, the technical advisor, youth line forum asserts that it has become a habit and practice of the Ugandan Government to close or suspend Non-Government Organizations and non-state actors that are involved in advocating and promotion of Human rights and freedoms, good governance and the rule of law giving an example of DGF and other several CSO’s, NGOs and some of the human rights defenders arrested.
“This closure means that the victims of human rights violations especially torture will not get the much needed justice since they will have nowhere to report the injustices faced, the work that has been done by United Nations Human Rights.” Said Ruth Asiimwe.
The students led by Reagan Muyinda, the coordinator of Generation Next Platform tabled various demands including calling upon the government through the ministry of Foreign Affairs and other concerned players to provide a detailed report on this unfortunate incident as soon as possible.
They also called for Bringing to book and account the perpetrators and violators of Human rights and freedoms and have them prosecuted for their acts. In addition to calling upon fellow students to join them in the move to demand for action from government about the circumstances that involve violations of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Baguma Richard Rwatooro, from the East African Centre for International Relations and foreign policy studies called upon the international community and the UN to increase pressure on government for its systematic human rights violations against its own citizens with little or no willingness to prosecute the perpetrators thus denying victims’ justice.
