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B9-0141/2021
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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the political situation in Uganda

9.2.2021 - (2021/2545(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Raffaele Fitto, Anna Fotyga, Karol Karski, Elżbieta Kruk, Elżbieta Rafalska, Veronika Vrecionová, Ryszard Czarnecki, Alexandr Vondra, Bogdan Rzońca, Assita Kanko, Adam Bielan, Ruža Tomašić, Eugen Jurzyca, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Valdemar Tomaševski, Evžen Tošenovský, Emmanouil Fragkos, Angel Dzhambazki
on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0138/2021

Postupak : 2021/2545(RSP)
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B9‑0141/2021

European Parliament resolution on the political situation in Uganda

(2021/2545(RSP))

The European Parliament,

 having regard to its previous resolutions on Uganda,

 having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

 having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), to which Uganda is a party,

 having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

 having regard to the African Charter on Human and People‘s Rights,

 having regard to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance,

 having regard to the revised Cotonou Agreement, in particular Article 96 thereof,

 having regard to Rule 132 of its Rules of Procedure.

A. Whereas the 2017 removal of the constitutional age limit for presidential candidates resulted in  President Museveni, who has been in power for 34 years, running again in the 2021 contest;

B. Whereas this decision led many to protest, especially those under 30, who make up 75% of the population and are deeply affected by high levels of un- and under-employment, widening gaps between rich and poor and land degradation;

C. Whereas in the run-up to the elections, more than 50 people were killed in election-related violence, most of them shot dead by police and other security forces;

D. Whereas the government regularly used the security apparatus to quell political opposition, misusing COVID-19 security measures as a pretext to thwart political rallies and limit space for independent media, deploying the military to oversee security around polling stations, mainly in urban areas, targeting journalists and shutting down the internet ahead of voting day;

E. Whereas EP Sakharov fellow Nicholas Opiyo is among the victims of ongoing repression in Uganda and was detained after being violently manhandled by state security agents, on unsubstantiated and politically motivated charges, in breach of Uganda’s constitutional guarantees;

F. Whereas in a letter to the Ministry of Finance, the President directed the Minister to immediately shutdown the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF) basket fund, claiming that the funds are used to "finance activities and organizations designed to subvert the government under the guide of improving governance";

G. Whereas the DGF funds 70% of NGOs in Uganda, and is comprised of multiple European governments including Austria, Norway, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland;

H. Whereas following the national election on 14th January 2021, incumbent President Yoweri Museveni was declared victorious with almost 59% of the vote despite allegations of voter suppression and fraud;

I. Whereas the People Power Movement, led by leading opposition figure Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, disputes the elections outcome, having been arrested multiple times during the campaign and placed under de facto house arrest before the election and remains under de facto house arrest, restricting his and his family’s access to media and voters;

J. Whereas Bobi Wine has declared that evidence of widespread fraud will be presented once internet is restored in the country;

K. Whereas former militia leader and child soldier Dominic Ongwen from Uganda was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the international criminal court in a landmark judgment on 4 February 2021, convicted of 61 individual charges of murder, rape, sexual slavery, abduction and torture committed as a commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a violent cult which waged a bloody campaign of violence in Uganda and neighbouring countries from the mid-1980s until a few years ago;

1. Expresses its deep concern over voter fraud and suppression along with the rise in human rights abuses and violence in Uganda, the widening divisions and lack of dialogue among Ugandan stakeholders and the threat of a regional crisis;

2. Applauds Ugandans who exercised their right to vote on 14 January despite numerous obstacles or even direct threats and violence, harassment of opposition leaders, suppression of civil society actors and media, and the raiding of a domestic observers office;

3. Express concern over the national internet shutdown, which clearly limited the transparency of the elections and constrained the freedoms that Ugandans are entitled to;

4. Welcomes the verdict in the case against former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander, Dominic Ongwen, for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and asses it as a significant step for justice and accountability for atrocities committed by the LRA;

5. Expects that all perpetrators of the crimes committed against the people og Uganda will be held accountable therefore calls on Uganda’s authorities and the international community to continue cooperation to bring to justice all those responsible for war crimes and other grave human rights violations;

6. Reminds the authorities of Uganda of their obligations to guarantee, protect and promote fundamental rights, including the civil and political rights of its citizens such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly; reminds Uganda’s Government of its international obligations, in particular regarding respect for fundamental freedoms and the rule of law;

7. Expresses deep concern over the restrictions placed on international journalists and the media of Uganda during the electoral campaign, and calls on the Ugandan authorities to remove any restrictions without delay;

8. Calls on the Ugandan authorities to release human rights advocates and political prisoners currently held under dubious charges, with particular focus towards Mr. Nicholas Opiyo;  

9. Calls for the African Union, the UN and the EU to seriously consider the regional dimension and to prevent any further destabilisation in the region; urges the VP/HR to engage with Uganda’s authorities and all other relevant stakeholders and to support, renew and enhance the credibility of the regional mediation efforts by the East-African Community to find a durable solution to the crisis which respects the constitution and international human rights law through an open and inclusive dialogue;

10. Calls on the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to urgently prepare an expanded list of names of those who are responsible for planning, organising and executing human rights violations with a view to adding them to the list of those Ugandan officials who are already under EU sanction;

11. Calls on the Commission to closely monitor the human rights situation in Ugandan;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the Government of Ugandan and the governments of the countries of the Great Lakes region, the governments of the East African Community, the African Union, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the Pan African Parliament.

Posljednje ažuriranje: 9. veljače 2021.
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