Uganda: Protecting human rights safeguards electoral integrity

Uganda: Protecting human rights safeguards electoral integrity

Posted on December 19, 2025 Civic Space 8 min read Share: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn

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Uganda: Protecting human rights safeguards electoral integrity - Civic Space

Forum for Democratic Change supporters, Kampala, 26 October. Ugandan authorities have arrested and harassed party leader Dr Kizza Besigye, and have also targeted National Unity Platform leader Bobi Wine. Credit: Tugela Ridley / Reuters

As Uganda heads toward general elections scheduled for 15 January 2026, ARTICLE 19 is increasingly concerned by the steady erosion of civic space and the mounting pressure placed on political opposition and human rights activists. Restrictions on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association have intensified, creating an environment in which open political participation is becoming more difficult, and dissenting voices are routinely curtailed in the run-up to the polls. We call on the Ugandan government to take immediate action to ensure the safety of journalists and activists, protect freedom of expression, and guarantee an open, safe pre-election environment.

In 2025, credible reports indicate that more than 300 supporters and officials of the prominent opposition youth party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), have been arrested or detained. Many remain in custody facing charges such as public nuisance, incitement, disobedience of lawful orders, and obstruction - offences that are repeatedly invoked to suppress peaceful political activity rather than address genuine criminal conduct. The scale and pattern of these arrests point to a deliberate effort to disrupt opposition party activities and to intimidate supporters.

The use of force against opposition leaders and their supporters remains a serious concern. Most notable is the personal attack on the NUP leader Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine). In September 2024, police and military personnel attacked Bobi Wine's convoy. Wine, in a statement, reported that security forces surrounded his vehicles and fired live bullets, tear gas, and other projectiles. He was struck by a tear gas canister during the incident and later required surgery to remove fragments lodged in his leg. The incident underscored the risks faced by opposition figures simply for engaging in political mobilization.

The government has also targeted the opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). The case of its veteran leader Dr Kizza Besigye highlights how authorities have used detention to suppress political opposition ahead of the elections. On 16 November 2024, Besigye was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, and forcibly returned to Uganda, held in a military facility and charged with security-related offences. Following a Supreme Court ruling in February 2025, his case was transferred to a civilian court, where he was formally charged with treason. Multiple bail applications, most recently in August 2025, have been denied, and his prolonged imprisonment has raised serious health concerns, including due to a hunger strike and visible frailty during court proceedings, reflecting the inhumane nature of his detention and its chilling effect on civic action for his party members.

Peaceful assemblies have also been routinely obstructed by the government security forces. On 28 August 2025, police in Mityana District dispersed supporters of the People's Front for Freedom (PFF) using tear gas as they marched to inaugurate the party's first sub-regional offices in Buganda. The procession, led by senior party officials and conducted without violence, was blocked on the basis that it lacked police clearance. Several supporters were injured before authorities permitted a small delegation to proceed with the opening, highlighting the arbitrary and selective enforcement of public order regulations.

Concerns have further deepened over the treatment of human rights activists from East Africa. In November 2025, President Yoweri Museveni publicly acknowledged for the first time that two Kenyan human rights activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who had been missing for over five weeks, were in Ugandan custody and had been held in what he referred to as "the fridge, to cool down." This admission followed weeks of official denials by Uganda police and military forces before a court of law in Uganda. The two activists were reportedly abducted by armed men while attending an opposition campaign event linked to NUP leader Bobi Wine and taken to an unknown location. The incident drew condemnation from regional civil society actors and raised serious concerns about enforced disappearances, cross-border repression, and the targeting of individuals for their perceived political associations.

'The pattern unfolding of human rights violations in Uganda is deeply worrying. Political arrests, violent dispersal of peaceful gatherings, and the targeting of activists and journalists are steadily narrowing the space for public participation. Unless these practices are urgently addressed and the government is held to account, they risk undermining the credibility of the 2026 elections and denying Ugandans the ability to freely exercise their rights at the ballot,' said Mr. Mugambi Kiai, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa regional director.

Well-managed elections that fully respect civil liberties reduce the risk of civil unrest by ensuring that political competition is peaceful, inclusive, and credible. When freedoms of expression, association, and assembly are protected, citizens are more likely to resolve grievances through democratic processes rather than confrontation. This strengthens public confidence in electoral bodies, the judiciary, and other state institutions, reinforcing their legitimacy. In turn, institutional trust and political stability create an enabling environment for investment, effective governance, and long-term, people-centered development.

Given the deterioration of civic space, the Ugandan government must take immediate action to ensure that the democratic space is protected. Specifically, and urgently, the government must:

Guarantee an open and enabling pre-election environment by immediately ending the arbitrary arrest, detention, and harassment of opposition members, supporters, journalists, and activists, and releasing all individuals detained solely for exercising their political rights.

Ensure due process and equal protection of the law throughout the electoral period by promptly bringing all detainees before court, respecting bail guarantees, and ensuring access to legal representation, family members, and medical care, in line with constitutional and international standards.

Refrain from the use of excessive or unlawful force during political campaigns and assemblies, and ensure that police and security forces facilitate, rather than obstruct, peaceful political activity so that voters and political actors can participate without fear.

End enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions ahead of and during the elections, including the use of unofficial detention facilities, which undermine public confidence in state institutions and create a climate of fear incompatible with free elections as well as investigate and address all allegations of torture, ill-treatment, unlawful killings, and other abuses linked to political activity, and ensure accountability to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the rule of law during the electoral process.

Uphold Uganda's commitments under regional and international human rights instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.