Uganda: UPDF Claims Journalists Beaten Outside UN Officers Compensated, Journalists Reject Claim

26 May 2022
Nile Post (Kampala)
By Sam Ibanda Mugabi

The UPDF has said that all journalists who were battered by military police at the UN offices in Kololo in 2019 were compensated.

The statement was made by the UPDF's director of legal services Brigadier Gordad Busingye before the human rights committee of parliament today.

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Busingye said that the journalists were compensated following an order from the then Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) after the journalists agreed to withdraw their case.

The journalists were beaten up while on duty to cover the National Unity Platform (NUP) president delivering a petition to the United Nations Human Rights Commission on human rights violations.

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However, Moses Mulondo, president of the Uganda Parliamentary Press Association, denied that any journalist has ever been compensated.

Officials from the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and Uganda Police Force were before parliament to respond to a report that pinned the armed forces for undermining press freedom in the country.

The defence ministry was represented by the state minister Oboth Oboth. The Gender, Labour and Social Development ministry was represented by Minister Gidudu Mafabi.

Also in attendance was the Ministry of Presidency led by Hajji Yunus Kakande, Uganda Police led by the deputy IGP Maj. Gen Kasitgazi Tumusiime , UCC officials led by their legal officer Abdul Waiswa and Uganda Parliamentary Press Association led by their president Moses Mulondo.

The army said officers involved in battering journalists had been arraigned before court but victims insisted the commander of the operation was not among those charged.

State defence minister Oboth Oboth said the leadership of the army regretted the assault the journalists had suffered. He said that the army is in the process of mending ties with the press corps and individuals who were assaulted. The culprits at the front of beating the journalists were also being disciplined.

The meeting touched on the behaviour of Resident District Commissioners (RDC) who block members of the opposition from radio talk shows in the regions.

Read the original article on Nile Post.

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