Press freedom defenders and journalists’ organisations in Uganda have petitioned parliament over the violence inflicted on journalists by the army and the police in recent months.
In an August 1 petition to the committee on defence and internal affairs, 10 organisations, including the African Centre for Media Excellence, cited incidents in which the security organs roughed up more than 30 journalists between April and July this year.
According to the petitioners, cases of violence included arbitrary arrests and detentions, beatings, targeted shootings, blocking accessibility to news scenes, and confiscation of equipment such as cameras and recorders.
The petitioners say that no action has been taken against police personnel and soldiers who, in their violent acts against the journalists, also violated their own disciplinary code. The petitioners therefore want the committee to summon the leadership of the police and the army to explain the conduct of their subordinates and to punish culprits with a view to stopping the crude treatment of journalists.
Cases cited in the petition
• March 2011: A journalist in Jinja lost a tooth after she was beaten by the police while covering a function involving politicians.
• April 14: Four journalists were roughed up by police and army personnel around Kampala. In Masaka, four journalists suffered physical assault by the UPDF while covering events in the municipality.
• May 12: Soldiers assaulted 8 journalists and confiscated their equipment on Entebbe Road while covering the return of the opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye. A journalist was also shot at that day.
• May 18: Cameras of journalists covering the eviction of people from a wetland were confiscated, and pictures and video footage deleted by police.
The petition also mentions a case of impersonation of journalists by security personnel. “In April, a man believed to be a police officer was caught by journalists wearing a WBS TV jacket posing as a cameraman. The station denied knowledge of the man.”
Quoting Article 221 of the Constitution – which provides that all security agencies have to protect, respect and promote human rights and freedoms as they perform their duties – the petitioners add that the “actions of the Uganda Police Force … and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces of removing tools from the Members of the Press clearly violated this right”.
Mr Wokulira Ssebaggala, the co-ordinator of Human Rights Network for Journalists who was among those who delivered the petition, said that members of parliament had asked for more evidence on the cases presented.
“We presented the evidence and we shall be at parliament again on Tuesday [August 9] when the police and army appear before the same committee to answer to some of the queries we have raised,” he said.
Mr Haruna Kanabi of the Independent Media Council Uganda led the team to parliament.
