By George Murumba

14^th May 2012:

The Uganda parliament should significantly revise the draft Public Order Management Bill, which would drastically restrict freedom of assembly and expression, Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) and Human Rights Watch, have said.

Human Rights Watch and FHRI also said that despite pressure from the Executive to pass the Bill in its current form, key recommendations from parliament’s Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee should be used to guide revisions before the bill is presented for a vote.

Recent acrimony between opposition leadership and the government has apparently renewed the government’s sense of urgency to move the Bill forward, as government authorities try to thwart attempts by the opposition to hold protests, arresting some opposition leaders on a variety of charges.

“…If the draft law is passed as is, it will seriously undermine Ugandans’ right to demonstrate and express themselves freely,” said Livingstone Sewanyana, head of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative. “The government should not respond to criticism by imposing overly restrictive laws. Instead the bill should be amended to protect the right to assemble and express one’s self freely.”

Recently, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee presented its final report to parliament recommending that several key provisions be changed or deleted to bring the bill in line with the Ugandan constitution and international law.

The third deputy Prime Minister, General Moses Ali, asked Parliament to give cabinet and the executive time to reflect on the recommendations. The ruling NRM party caucus met with the president, who voiced strong support for the Bill in its current form despite the widespread criticism of many provisions.

The current draft gives broad discretionary power to the Ugandan Police to permit or disallow any “public meeting.”  According to the Bill, a “public meeting” includes any gathering of more than three people in any public place where, for example, the “failure of any government, political party, or political organisation” is discussed.

In all instances, organizers of such gatherings would be required to inform police in advance before convening such gathering or face criminal sanction.  “…Any spontaneous peaceful demonstration of more than three people would be a criminal act”, Human Rights Watch and FHRI said.

The Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee noted in its report that these provisions in the draft Bill “…will present an unreasonable restriction on the enjoyment of the freedom of association and expression in a way that is ‘beyond what is acceptable and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society.”

Furthermore, in clear contradiction of international human rights standards, the Bill authorizes police to use what appears to be disproportionate force – including the use of firearms in several instances, for example when a person resists lawful arrest – no matter what the alleged offense.

The Committee’s report pointed to the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles and recommended that the Bill should be revised to “…prohibit the use of force and reserving its application as a last resort, where it is deemed, reasonable, appropriate and restrict such force to the minimum extent necessary.”

In late 2011, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee heard testimony from a wide range of stakeholders. The Uganda Human Rights Commission, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Uganda Law Society, religious leaders, opposition political parties, and local human rights organizations all expressed serious concern about the draft Bill and called for significant amendments.

The Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, and the State Minister for Internal Affairs defended the provisions.  On April 4, Uganda’s Attorney General, Peter Nyombi, banned ‘Activists for Change’ (A4C), declaring it an unlawful society under Uganda’s Penal Code.

The ban on A4C was then followed by another ban on ‘For God and My Country’ (4GC), an offshoot of A4C.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.