Strategy on monitoring Uganda Government response to 2021 election shootings launched

By Benjamin Mwibo

Human Rights Civil Society Organisations launched a strategy on monitoring government response regarding compensation for the families in the 2021 election shootings where over 50 people lost their lives and other human rights violations. In partnership with the human rights commission, these have tasked government to explain how far it has gone with compensation of family members that lost their loved ones during the election period on 18th December last year.

The meeting was aimed at monitoring the level to freedoms of human rights hence human rights bodies also seeking to understand wheather the treaties between United Nations and Uganda regarding human rights are put into consideration.

Speaking to journalists, the executive director National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders Mr. Robert Kirenga explained that the government should ensure total compensation of all those who were troubled by losing their family members during the shootings of last year.

“All those who were arrested during the 2021 elections should be set free and begin a new chapter between government and the voters." Kirenga added.

Having limited branches across the country to help in monitoring the human rights violations is one factor that challenges implementation of duty by human rights commission despite of their willingness, the chairperson Uganda Human Rights Commission, Ms. Miriam Wangadya said.

She described that the human rights commission have only 12 regional offices in Uganda but the human rights CSOs are everywhere and therefore the body accesses much of the information on human rights violations from them.