Uganda: Alarming crackdown on environment and human rights defenders

The Observatory has been informed of the alarming crackdown on environment and human rights defenders involved in defending environmental and land rights in the context of oil development projects, in particular the abduction, arbitrary arrest and detention, judicial, physical and moral harassment of eleven human rights defenders, between May 27, 2024 and June 5, 2024.

On June 5, 2024, Mr Adriko Sostein, environment and human rights defender and community member from Kaseeta Parish, Kikuube district in Uganda, was arrested by the officer in charge of the Kaseeta police and a team of Kikuube district police. He was detained at the Central police station in Kikuube and was released on bond on June 6, 2024. Mr Julius Tumwiine and Mr Ezama Chirilo, two other human rights defenders, faced threats and judicial harassment from the police in Kikuube, which was seen surrounding Julius Tumwiine's house on June 5, 2024, at a time when he was not home. Both were allegedly wanted by the police, and consequently Ezama Chirilo reported voluntarily at the police station in presence of a lawyer, where he was put on police bond.

On May 29, 2024, Adriko Sostein, Julius Tumwiine and Ezama Chirilo, held a peaceful protest and marched to deliver a petition to Daqing oil construction in Kikuube. Daqing is a Chinese company in charge of construction of the feeder pipeline linking Kingfisher oil fields to the main oil infrastructure in Hoima.1 The petition demanded respect for the human rights of local communities and a halt to oil development.

On June 1st, 2024, the Resident District Commissioner – the representative of the executive branch and head of security at district level who is nominated by the President of Uganda – called the three defenders who went to deliver this petition and summoned them to a meeting at his office the next day. In the meeting on Sunday, June 2nd, 2024, the Resident District Commissioner made intimidating comments about their human rights activities and pressured them into writing an "apology letter" to him stating that they would never engage in such an activity again.

On June 4, 2024, Mr Stephen Kwikiriza was reportedly abducted by the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF). At the moment of his abduction, Mr Kwikiriza sent a message to his colleague at Environmental Governance Institute (EGI), confirming his abduction by UPDF officers in civilian clothes. At the date of the publication of this Urgent Appeal, no further communication has been received and Mr Kwikiriza’s whereabouts and condition are unknown.

Working as an Observer with EGI in the area of Kingfisher, Mr Kwikiriza is an environment and human rights defender dedicated to promoting the sustainable management of natural resources in the context of developing oil projects in the region. Due to his work as a defender, Mr Kwikiriza had previously received threats from the UPDF deployed at Kingfisher project area.

On May 27, 2024, Messrs Bob Barigye - member of the African Initiative on Food Security and Environment - Uganda (AIFE-Uganda) - Noah Katiiti, Newton Mwesigwa, Julius Byaruhanga - Sector Coordinator for Oil, Gas, Minerals and Professional Services at the Uganda Private Sector Foundation - Desire Ndyamwesigwa, Raymond Binntukwanga, and Jealousy Mugisha Mulimbwa - pastor and community leader - were arrested in Kampala, Uganda, by the Ugandan police during a peaceful demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy. They were held in custody at the Jinja Road Police station in Kampala and charged with unlawful assembly. On May 28, 2024, the seven defenders were released, but at the date of publication of this Urgent Appeal, they are still under investigation and under police bond, thus being required to report to the police whenever they are summoned to. On June 6, 2024, they reported to the police and their bond was extended until June 20, 2024.

The peaceful demonstration was part of simultaneous protests organised in Uganda and Tanzania by civil society groups working with people affected by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project in the two countries. The EACOP is jointly owned and operated by French oil major TotalEnergies, Chinese state-owned enterprise CNOOC, and Tanzanian and Ugandan state owned oil companies. The aim of the demonstration was to hand over to officials of the Chinese embassy an open letter highlighting the economic, social and environmental impacts of the oil projects. The letter, signed by a number of Ugandan and Tanzanian civil society organisations and project-affected communities, expressed their concern at Chinese President Xi Jinping's support for the EACOP project. The demonstrators did not have the opportunity to meet with the Chinese officials.

These arbitrary arrests and detentions, judicial, physical and moral harassment, and legal proceedings are part of a persistent and intense repressive trend against environmental and human rights defenders and affected communities in the context of oil development projects in Uganda. The Observatory recalls that Mr Jelousy Mugisha Mulimbwa had already been arbitrarily arrested on December 14, 2019, following his testimony in a trial against the oil company Total (now TotalEnergies) in France in December 2019. Bob Barigye was also arbitrarily arrested on January 27, 2023 and released on bail on January 24, 2023, while organising a debate on the impact of the EACOP on the environment, human rights and the economy. In addition to the violations mentioned above, the Observatory reported since 2020 numerous cases of legal and judicial harassment and intimidation against individuals and organisations defending human and environmental rights in the context of oil project development affecting local populations’ well-being and biodiversity. The Observatory also reported in September 2020 the arbitrary detention in Uganda of nine environmental human rights defenders mobilised to denounce the impact on ecosystems of investment projects by the sugar industry, as well as the social and environmental consequences of oil projects in the region, including those by TotalEnergies and CNOOC (Kingfisher, Tilenga and EACOP).

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention and the judicial harassment of Adriko Sostein, Julius Tumwiine, Ezama Chirilo, Stephen Kwirkiriza, Bob Barigye, Noah Katiiti, Newton Mwesigwa, Julius Byaruhanga, Desire Ndyamwesigwa, Raymond Binntukwanga, and Jealousy Mugisha Mulimbwa, which only appear to be aimed at restricting their freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and at hindering their legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to immediately release Stephen Kwikiriza and calls on them to put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, and any act of intimidation against the eleven above-mentioned human rights defenders, as well as against all human rights defenders in the country.

The Observatory also calls on the Ugandan authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression as enshrined in international human rights law, and in particular Article 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Uganda is a party.

1The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a projected 1,443 km pipeline set to transport oil drilled in the Lake Abert area, to the port of Tanga in Tanzania, where it will be exported.