Uganda: Arbitrary detention of Dr. Sarah Bireete ahead of general elections

The Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Dr. Sarah Bireete, a human rights lawyer, Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Governance (CCG), Chairperson of the East and Horn of Africa Elections Observers Network (E-HORN), as well as a member for the international human rights defenders group known as Vuka Allies, for Uganda. She has specific interests in good governance, civic space, electoral democracy and land rights, among others, and has been a vocal critic of the present government.

On 30 December 2025, Ugandan security forces raided the house of Sarah Bireete and arrested her, before taking her to Natete Police Station in Kampala.

On 2 January, 2026, three days later (longer than the 48 hours allowed by the Constitution), Sarah Bireete was presented to the chief magistrates’ court in Kampala on charges related to accessing the national voters’ registry. She was charged with “unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data” (under Section 35 (1) and (2) of the Data Protection and Privacy Act, Cap. 97). The authorities claimed that she had, between January and December 2025, “at various places within Uganda, including Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso Districts, unlawfully obtained or disclosed data, to wit National Voter’s Information, controlled or processed by the Electoral Commission, without prior consent of the said Electoral Commission”. She was remanded in Luzira prison, where she is currently detained at the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal.

During those three days, police officers interrogated Sarah Bireete about her social media posts critical of the government and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, who is running for a seventh five-year term in the general elections, which will take place on 15 January 2026. Her bail hearing was set for 21 January 2026, which means that she will remain in detention at least until after the elections, thereby impeding her from participating in her country’s political life, including voting and expressing herself on the management and results of the elections.

On 8 January 2026, Special mechanisms of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) shared their concerns about the arbitrary detention of Sarah Bireete in a Joint Letter of Urgent Appeal transmitted to His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda.

The Observatory considers that this arrest raises serious concerns about the treatment of electoral observers and all those seeking to independently monitor and criticise the upcoming general elections.

The Observatory recalls that this pre-election period has been marred by systematic repression and restrictions on fundamental freedoms, which threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process. With the country's main opposition leader imprisoned, hundreds of supporters arrested, journalists assaulted, digital communications having been shutdown since 13 January at 6pm local time, and organisations suspended – including Sarah Bireete’s organisation “Center for Constitutional Governance", Uganda's elections risk taking place in an environment incompatible with free and fair democratic competition.

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Sarah Bireete, which seem to be only aimed at punishing her for her legitimate human rights activities and impeding her from criticising the upcoming elections’ management.

The Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Sarah Bireete and put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, against her and all the human rights defenders in the country, especially in the context of the upcoming general elections.