Uganda: Mao Calls for Protection of Lawyers in Mumbere Case

January 4, 2017

Democratic Party (DP) President Nobert Mao has called for the protection of lawyers in the ongoing murder case against the Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere and the victims of the recent clashes in Kasese.

Mao made the call after one of the lawyers in the case Samuel Muyizzi, who is also DP legal adviser, was attacked on Monday night by unknown people who reportedly demanded that he withdraws from the case.

Addressing the press on Tuesday at the DP Headquarters in Kampala, Mao said that he has spoken with the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Winnie Kiiza to ensure that the lawyers in the case are protected.

“Muyizzi was attacked on Monday night in town and the attackers were demanding that he withdraws from representing the victims of the Kasese violence. We are very concerned. This morning I spoke with Winnie Kiiza and told her to use her office to defend the lawyers.

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http://allafrica.com/stories/201701040245.html

Uganda: UPR Submission

November 1, 2016

Since Human Rights Watch’s March 2016 submission ahead of Uganda’s next Universal Periodic Review, there have been ongoing violations of free assembly, expression, and association.

Between February and May after the general elections, police raided and sealed off the opposition political party Forum for Democratic Change headquarters, arrested party officials, and beat their supporters on several occasions. In May, opposition leader Kizza Besigye was charged with treason and remanded in prison. In July after the High Court granted him bail, police brutally beat Besigye’s supporters and other bystanders with sticks and batons as he drove through the streets of Kampala.

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Opposition activists brought a private prosecution for torture against the Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura for his alleged involvement in beating opposition supporters in July. The possibility of a trial on the merits fell apart in August. Kayihura failed to appear in court, and police-backed demonstrators physically threatened the lawyers who brought the case and tried to prevent them from leaving the court. They were forced to hide in a magistrate’s office to avoid being assaulted by those voicing support for the police.

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https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/01/uganda-upr-submission

Uganda: Lead prosecutor in al-Shabaab bombing trial shot dead in Uganda

Uganda’s lead prosecutor in the ongoing trial of 13 men accused of participating in 2010 al-Shabaab bombings that killed 76 people was shot dead Monday, police said.

Joan Kagezi, acting assistant director of public prosecution, was murdered by men on a motorbike as she drove home in a suburb of the capital, Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango said. “They were trailing her on a motorcycle … They shot her dead.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/30/uganda-prosecutor-al-shabaab-bombing-case-shot-dead-uganda