Ugandan authorities are using military courts to target critics and perceived opponents of the government. In the most recent high-profile case, on November 16, 2024, opposition politician Dr.Kizza Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale were abducted in Nairobi, Kenya. Four days later, they resurfaced in Uganda’s capital Kampala where they were arraigned in a military court on security related charges.
On 7 January, human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza was arrested then summarily convicted of “contempt of court” and sentenced after soldiers prevented him from accessing the military court’s section where his client Dr. Besigye was being arraigned. He spent 88 days in arbitrary detention – preventing him from representing his client. During his detention, Lawyer Eron Kiiza says he was a tortured – until the High Court of Uganda granted him bail on 4 April.
We spoke to him to understand what it is like being a human rights lawyer in Uganda during such a turbulent time.
What motivates you as a human rights lawyer?
I am motivated by the need to contribute to justice, fairness and progress in my society and the world. I am irritated by injustice, tyranny and oppression and it is my life’s mission to fight and resist them. I agree with the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” All injustice pains me.
How did your recent conviction impact you as an individual and affect your work as a human rights lawyer?
It slowed me down.
First, it robbed me, (especially during the 88 days of unlawful detention), of my professional privilege, and the right and duty to offer legal support to my clients, one of whom who was resisting unconstitutional trial before a kangaroo military tribunal.
The preposterous ordeal entailed violent military torture that left me with both mental and physical scars. I have healed from the physical scars, but the mental trauma endures and the time I lost in illegal detention is irrecoverable.
My violent arrest, summary conviction, disproportionate sentencing and illegal military detention scared some members of our legal team. The team immediately reduced by half and some of the lawyers who fled after the military brought trumped up charges against me have never returned.
There are court rulings in Uganda that say that civilians shouldn’t be tried in military courts. And yet, you and many other civilians have experienced exactly that. What does this mean for dissenting voices in Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni uses the military to silence his critics. He feels he cannot rule without the ability to intimidate people with the military and military tribunals that are biased, unfair, not appropriate and without the constitutional mandate to handle civilian trials.
No one fancies time in a military tribunal. Some critics will shut up. The law has a severe chilling and intimidating effect. It is especially aimed at Museveni’s political foes. That is the history and future of such military tribunals in Uganda.
Given the current state of human rights in Uganda what do you want to see as someone in the frontlines?
I want stronger international solidarity, more support for frontline human rights defenders (HRDs) to mitigate against the retreating of partners like USAID, and Democratic Governance Fund. I hope for strengthened capacity building, mentorship, exchange programmes and protection mechanisms for HRDs.
I hope frontline human rights defenders in East Africa and the Great Lakes region can know each other more, work together more and support each other more.
