press releases & Protests

June 19, 2006

President of Uganda
State House Nakasero
P O Box 24594
Kampala, Uganda

Presidential Hotline Fax: +256 41 346 102
email: aak@statehouse.go.ug
cc info@statehouse.go.ug

Your Excellency,

The World Press Freedom Committee is an international umbrella organization that includes 45 journalistic groups -- print and broadcast, labor and management, journalists, editors, publishers and owners on six continents -- united in the defense and promotion of press freedom.

The WPFC makes this urgent representation to you to use your utmost endeavors to withdraw the charges of “promoting sectarianism” which your government has laid against two Ugandan journalists following publication of an article in the independent Weekly Observer on December 1, 2005.

The charges have been brought against Editor James Tumusiime and reporter Semujju Ibrahim Nganda. The article alleged that Your Excellency and a small group of army generals from the president’s Bahima ethnic group coordinated “an operation to keep (opposition leader Kizza) Besigye in jail.” Nganda, who wrote the article, sought comment from one of the generals, who, however, declined to comment.

At the time the article was published, Besigye was in jail on charges of treason, terrorism and rape. Our information is that despite a ruling by a civilian court granting Besigye bail, the military had issued a warrant to keep him imprisoned. The warrant was later ruled illegal and Besigye was released in early January.

The charge against the two journalists falls under Article 41 of Uganda’s penal code and criminalizes any statement likely to promote “feelings of hostility among or against” any group on ethnic, regional or tribal lines.

We understand that the country’s largest private media group, the Monitor Group, has challenged the legality of Article 41 in the Supreme Court, following 15 charges of “sedition” and “promoting sectarianism” being brought against the Monitor’s veteran political journalist Andrew Mwenda.

These charges relate to a talk show broadcast in August 2005 focusing on the helicopter crash that killed southern Sudanese leader John Garang.

We are informed that Mwenda’s trial has been suspended pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the Monitor application.

International opinions on these issues are reflected in recent resolutions -- we are attaching them to this letter -- from a recent congress of the International Press Institute, an organization of worldwide membership.

Our complaint is based on the accepted international democratic principle that criminalizing printed information and opinion has been outlawed and that redress can be obtained by accepted methods such as requesting a publication to correct errors or provide space for a rebuttal. In extreme cases there is provision for a publication to be sued for damages before a civil court. But there is no question that a person or a journalist should be faced with the possibility of a prison term for expressing his or her opinion or reporting information.

We have noted with approval that Uganda has volunteered for assessment under the Nepad African Peer Review Mechanism. However, we point out that the criminal prosecution of journalists for the publication of information would be regarded as offending against the criteria for a country being assessed as practicing good political governance. Indeed, as an institution which is dedicated to the protection of press freedom and freedom of expression, we would feel it our duty to draw the attention of the Eminent Persons Group which has an important role in defining conformity with good governance requirements that the criminal prosecutions against journalists in Uganda offend against the principles of good governance and request that a negative mark be accorded Uganda in this category of assessment.

We also draw Your Excellency’s attention to the requirements for maintaining and upholding media freedom contained in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights that Uganda has signed. These criminal prosecutions run counter to the principles contained in that Charter -- and indeed other international charters such as Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We should also point out that the language contained in the charges levied against the Weekly Observer journalists is the same as that used by the previous apartheid government in South Africa to stifle publication of opposition to its policies by the oppressed peoples.

In the light of the above we respectfully request Your Excellency to request the authorities to withdraw the criminal charges against the journalists and to seek whatever redress they deem is necessary in an appropriate acceptable manner.

In making this request, we are mindful of the difficulties stemming from sectarianism in Uganda in the past and have noted, too, Your Excellency’s past sterling efforts to restore human rights practices to Uganda.

We are willing to send a representative to discuss the issue with Your Excellency and your officials should you deem it necessary.

Sincerely,

Mark Bench
Executive Director