FHRI joins the Death Penalty Project (UK) to celebrate its nomination for the national award.

The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) in partnership with the Death Penalty Project (UK) continued to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in Uganda. FHRI worked with the Death Penalty Project (UK) in 2009 and 2010 under the project “Promoting Justice and the Rule of Law: Assistance for prisoners under sentence of Death in Uganda”. Katende, Sempebwa and Co. Advocates was sub contracted with legal representation of prisoners on death row.

Following the ruling in 2006 by the Constitutional Court in Attorney General vs Susan Kigula and 417 others Constitutional Appeal No. 3 of 2006 and the Supreme Court ruling in 2009 the death penalty sentence is still constitutional. However, there were positive development from the ruling which are: the death sentence is no longer mandatory; prisoners who had spent three years on death row after exhausting their appeal to the Supreme Court had their appeal commuted to life imprisonment; and following the judgment, all prisoners who where on death row at the time of the ruling were categorized for either life imprisonment or the mitigation process.

 

The precedent set by the Susan Kigula Supreme court decision has had multiplier effects: the release of some inmates on death row, the development of sentencing guidelines in capital cases and the commencement of mitigation hearings for all persons charged with capital offences. The campaign against the death penalty spearheaded by FHRI has evolved into a regional one. With the East African Civil Society Coalition, regional and international advocacy missions have been undertaken with international NGOs like the World Coalition against the Death Penalty and International Commission against the Death Penalty.

For more information about the Death Penalty project, visit www.deathpenaltyproject.org

 

 

Parliament Should Set a Threshold for Representation of Runner-up Presidential Candidates in Parliament

By Crispy Kaheru

Coordinator – Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU)

It is a given, that democracy runs along the principle of inclusivity as opposed to one of exclusivity. For this reason, our democratic engagements as defined by our electoral laws should accommodate and enhance the tenets of this logic.

The need to refresh this logic is highlighted by the unveiling situation in neighboring Kenya, where efforts are currently in top gear to get two former Presidential candidates, Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi into parliament, a circumstance that is causing an unwanted draft of political speculation and hysteria.

Uganda too is no stranger to this situation as the case of former FDC leader, Kiiza Besigye clearly illustrates. With over two million votes in his favor, he has consistently found his political options permanently restricted to politically effective but at times socio-economically disruptive agitation.

Tension as Media is Threatened, Daily Monitor, Red Pepper, KFM and Dembe FM remain closed.

By Teddy Namayanja, PRO

 

Ugandans have still woken up to a grim reality of the second day without News  from their leading independent daily,  Monitor Publications and leading tabloid Red pepper as they still remain closed by government over allegations that the purported letter of the planned attack on the “Muhoozi Project”  is hidden somewhere in their premises.

It is no secret that the fans of KFM’s – the Mighty Breakfast Morning Talk Show and Dembe’s Big Size Morning Show will have to wait a little longer  to wake up to their favorite shows. Today is the second day since the radio waves were switched off.

If you have to read about anything from a daily newspaper as of now, you will have no choice but to get yourself a copy of the government owned news papers – the New Vision, Bukedde and others. Luckily enough, if you want more  information about the Gen.Sejusa saga, there is the Observer for you to consult but who knows how long it will survive before government gets its iron hand on this publication.
 

Child labour, a form of abuse and exploitation!

By Penny Mbabazi Atuhaire,  Associate Researcher,

The struggle to promote and defend labour rights is not a new phenomenon in our current times. It dates back to the history of the 1930s and 1940s when a lot of bad things happened in the world and nations worldwide decided to come together.They agreed to have an international moral code for right and wrong behavior.

In the process, a good number of international and national instruments were developed to reinforce the basic rights that every individual is entitled to by virtue of being human. Children were not an exception.

The world over, children occupy an important and unique position in society mainly because of their vulnerability to the obvious economic-social challenges that accompany their journey to adulthood. Ugandan children and generally those in Africa experience these effects more compared to those in developed nations.  Irrespective of the circumstances that surround the child’s way of life when growing up, the general wellbeing of a child hugely remains the responsibility of parents, society and government.

Stop harrasing Journalists! Media Practitioners warn Police.

By Teddy Namayanja and Sandra Nsimiire

Media practitioners are asking government to implement the commitment made to the United Nations to investigate and bring perpetrators of violence against Journalists to justice especially the Uganda Police Force which they accuse of harassing Journalists, confiscating and destroying their gadgets.

They have issued a strong warning against the force and threatened to petition international authorities if they do not stop attacking Journalists. The sentiments that triggered this call were echoed during the media dialogue held on May 3, 2013 to commemorate the World Press Freedom Day at ESAMI AUDITORIUM in Kampala.

The dialogue brought together Journalists under the Uganda Journalists Association, Journalism students from Makerere University, Human Rights activists and defenders from Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Uganda Human Rights Commission, and Uganda Law Society among others.

The Uganda Police Force was also represented by the forces Spokesperson Judith Nabakooba with the Police Spokesperson In charge Of Kampala Metropolitan region, Idi Ibin Ssenkumbi.

A short video collection entitled; “In their own words” showing the brutality that Journalists have suffered at the hands of the custodians who would otherwise protect them was shown. It was quite disturbing and sad. It would appear that the jubilee old nation had gone back to primal stages of human growth.

Calls for Electoral and Constitutional Reforms in Uganda: Signs of a Progressive Evolution?

An opinion by Gwada Ogot;

Lately, calls by progressive forces in Uganda for electoral and constitutional reforms have grown into a din. Premised on socio-economic and political justice, the reformists demand government efficiency in service delivery to combat corruption, eliminate waste and manage elections better.

Progressivism ideally, addresses values, impulses and issues which tone the content and traction of political engagement particularly through substantive but gradual reviews of legislative and non legislative positions. Indeed, history is replete with illustrations of such courses.

In the United States, progressivism arose in the early 20^th century as a response to vast changes brought about by modernization, such as the growth of large corporations and railroads including fears of domination and corruption in American politics.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century, America’s progressive generation established referenda, recalls, direct primaries and direct elections of Senators as core achievements of direct democracy.