ProtectDefenders.eu has been informed about the arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and acts of torture and ill-treatment against Mr. Eron Kiiza. The defender is a lawyer involved in numerous public interest cases, and an advocate of human rights, environmental protection and the rule of law in Uganda.
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 lawyer, two political opponents. Mr. Kiiza was then taken to an unknown location for several hours, during which he was beaten.
The defender was convicted for “contempt of court” and immediately sentenced to nine months in prison, without being given an opportunity to defend himself, nor to have a legal representation, which violates due process and fair trial standards. Furthermore, the nine-month sentence handed down by the military court to Mr. Kiiza constitutes a violation of international, constitutional and Ugandan domestic law.
According to his colleagues who were able to visit him in prison on 8 January 2025, Eron Kiiza showed several signs of torture, and most of his body parts.
The arbitrary detention, judicial harassment and acts of torture and ill-treatment against Eron Kiiza appear to be aimed only at restricting his freedom of expression and hindering his legitimate activities as a human rights lawyer.
The case of Eron Kiiza is not an isolated one. In fact, we were also informed about persistent reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions by security forces targeting lawyers and human rights defenders by the United Nations Human Rights Committee 2023 concluding observations on the second periodic report of Uganda, demonstrating a worrying trend.
Finally, we also received information on the degrading situation of freedom of the press in the country. According to Consortium partner RSF, journalists, especially those who criticise the authorities and the country’s human rights record, face violence, abduction, arrest and confiscation of equipment. The pursuit of journalists has particularly increased since the creation, in June 2017, of a unit of security officers and high-tech experts responsible, among other things, for monitoring journalists’ profiles on social media.
Uganda ranks 128th out of 180 countries in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index.
