- The Ugandan government has abruptly ended the mandate of the UN human rights mission, leading to the closure of the mission’s operations in Kampala after 18 years of activity.
- The decision to terminate the UN human rights mission has raised concerns about the state of human rights in Uganda.
- The United Nations and the United States strongly condemned the legislation, leading to visa restrictions on Ugandan officials.
The Ugandan government has terminated the UN human rights mission’s mandate, so it will shut down on Saturday after 18 years of operations in the capital city of Kampala. Sub-offices in northern Uganda’s Gulu and Moroto have already been shut down.
It happened after Uganda, against the advice of national and international rights organizations, including the UN, approved among the world’s worst anti-LGBT legislation.
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged the government to make sure that Uganda’s national human rights authority, which is the primary organization charged with overseeing human rights in the nation, can operate efficiently and independently in a statement released on Friday.
The majority of the 54 NGOs that were “arbitrarily suspended” in 2021, according to Mr. Türk, are still shut down, and Uganda’s revised internet usage legislation may further restrict free speech, he added.
He also voiced great worry about the lead-up to the 2026 elections, noting that journalists, civil society actors, and advocates for human rights were working in an increasingly hostile climate in Uganda.
Uganda’s foreign ministry assured the UN of its “commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights” and the existence of “strong national human rights institutions and a vibrant civil society” while explaining its decision to terminate the UN’s human rights office’s mandate earlier this year.
Back in April, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni conditionally supported a highly controversial bill, which includes some of the world’s toughest anti-LGBTQ legislation. By June the bill was passed, and immediately, the anti-LGBTQ law was denounced by the United Nations, and the United States, which subsequently placed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials.