Ugandan Military Court to Try Opposition Leader

Authorities Should End Military Prosecutions of Civilians

A Ugandan military court in Kampala has ordered former opposition presidential candidate, Kizza Besigye, and his travel companion, Obeid Lutale, to be held in pretrial detention in a prison, the latest example of Uganda’s authorities misusing military courts and military-related charges to clamp down on the opposition.

Besigye went missing on November 16 in Kenya’s capital Nairobi where he had travelled from Uganda to attend a book launch. Four days later, he was discovered to be in the custody of the Ugandan military, who arraigned him before a military court on charges of “soliciting for logistical support and identifying military targets in Uganda with intent to prejudice the security of the [Ugandan] Defence Forces”, and of allegedly being in possession of guns and ammunition belonging to the Ugandan military. During his appearance in court, Besigye told the media he had not had access to his lawyers since his arrest in Kenya.

A Kenyan foreign ministry official denied his government’s involvement in Besigye’s detention and said authorities have begun investigating the circumstances of Besigye’s forceful removal from the country.

State-sponsored kidnapping of Ugandan opposition supporters in Kenya is not new. In July, Kenyan and Ugandan security officials abducted 36 supporters of Besigye’s former political party, the Forum for Democratic Change, in Kisumu, Kenya, and transferred them to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, where they were charged with terrorism and remanded in prison pending trial. The group has since been released on bail.

For years military courts in Uganda have been misused to prosecute civilians, particularly opposition supporters, despite a 2021 Constitutional Court ruling against the practice.

On October 23, the General Court Martial in Makindye, Kampala sentenced 16 supporters of the opposition National Unity Platform party to five years imprisonment for “treachery” and for possession of explosive devices “ordinarily a monopoly of the defence forces” between November 2020 and May 12, 2021. Some of the defendants had been violently arrested by military personnel in December 2020, ahead of a campaign rally of then presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine.

The Ugandan authorities should release Besigye or try him in a civil court for any alleged crimes and end the weaponization of military detention and trial of political opposition leaders and supporters.

Oryem Nyeko, Senior Researcher, Africa Division

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