Uganda: Release on bail and ongoing judicial harassment of Eron Kiiza

The Observatory has been informed about the release on bail and ongoing judicial harassment of Mr Eron Kiiza, a lawyer involved in numerous public interest cases, and an advocate of human rights, environmental protection and the rule of law in Uganda.

On 4 April 2025, the Criminal Division of the High Court of Uganda at Kampala granted bail to Eron Kiiza pending his appeal trial. He was released on a 20 million Ugandan shillings (approximately 5,000 Euros) bail and on the condition that he surrender his passport.

The Observatory recalls that on 7 January 2025, Eron Kiiza was violently arrested by a soldier while entering the courtroom of the General Court Martial in Makindye, where he was representing, in his capacity as a lawyer, political opponent Dr Kizza Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale during their trial. Mr Kiiza was then taken to an unknown location for several hours, during which he was beaten and subjected to acts of torture. He reappeared a few hours later before the General Court Martial and was convicted for “contempt of court” and immediately sentenced to nine months in prison in violation of due process and fair trial standards as well as of international, constitutional and Ugandan domestic law. After the verdict, Mr Kiiza was immediately transferred to Kitalya Government prison, Busiro County, Wakiso District.

On 13 January 2025, Mr Kiiza appealed his sentence before the Court Martial appellate at Makindye. The appeal hearing in his case was not scheduled until 31 January 2025, when the Supreme Court declared in a landmark judgement 1 that all charges, ongoing and pending criminal trials, and convictions (which have been appealed) involving civilians before a military court, including the Court Martial Appellate Division, must immediately cease and be transferred to the ordinary courts of law with competent jurisdiction. Mr Kiiza’s appeal was then transferred to the Criminal Division of the High Court at Kampala, and no date for a hearing has been fixed. In addition, Mr Kiiza and his legal team have filed human rights enforcement applications challenging the conduct and actions he was subjected to during and after his arrest, and the illegality of the proceedings that led to his conviction.

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing judicial harassment and acts of torture and ill-treatment against Eron Kiiza, which appear to be aimed only at restricting his freedom of expression and hindering his legitimate activities as a human rights lawyer. Persistent reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions by security forces targeting lawyers and human rights defenders were outlined in 2023 in the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s concluding observations on the second periodic report of Uganda, demonstrating a worrying trend.

The Observatory urges the Ugandan authorities to immediately quash the conviction against Eron Kiiza and to put an end to any act of harassment, including at the judicial level, and any act of intimidation against him, as well as against all human rights lawyers and human rights defenders in the country.

The Observatory further calls on the Ugandan authorities to carry out an immediate investigation into the acts of torture and ill-treatment against Eron Kiiza, and bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international human rights standards. The United Nations Committee against Torture has already expressed in 2022 deep concerns that torture and ill-treatment were widespread and frequently practised in Uganda, and recommended the immediate suspension of suspected perpetrators from duty while investigations are carried out.

The Observatory also calls on the authorities in Uganda to guarantee that all lawyers in the country are able to carry out their legitimate professional activities without fear of reprisals, and free of all undue restrictions, in compliance with the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted in Havana in 1990.

1 In the case Attorney General V Micheal Kabaziguruka Civil Appeal No. 02 of 2021, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgement which quashed the authority of the General Court Martial to try civilians. The Supreme Court also reduced the General Court Martial to a mere disciplinary unit with powers to check the disciplinary conduct of the armed forces within their scope of duty. The lead judgement was delivered by the Chief Justice.