Uganda's Indigenous Benet People Waiting for Justice 13 Years On

Uganda's Indigenous Benet people continue to suffer appalling conditions in resettlement camps with little access to water, sanitation and healthcare 13 years after being violently evicted from their ancestral forest lands in Mount Elgon, Amnesty International has said in a report.

On 16 February 2008, Ugandan authorities forcibly evicted 178 Indigenous Benet families from Benet forest, Mount Elgon, Sebei region (Bukwo and Kween districts), in eastern Uganda, rendering them homeless. Over a decade later, when Amnesty International visited Mount Elgon, members of the Indigenous Benet community were still living in temporary resettlement sites and reeling from the effects of the forced evictions.

The report titled 13 Years in Limbo: Forced Evictions of the Benet in the Name of Conservation - based on interviews with 61 evictees, documents the numerous impacts of forced evictions against the community of about 18,000 people.

The report found that the Benet are still reeling from the disruption to their way of life and remain at risk of physical harm from the forest rangers despite repeated promises by the government - including President Yoweri Museveni - to remedy their plight.