By Charles Katabalwa
12th Aug 2022
Human rights defenders under the umbrella body, the Human Rights Defenders Union Uganda –HRDUU put pressure on the Chairperson Uganda Human Rights Commission-UHRC, Mariam Wangadya to resign for misconduct and failure to execute her duties.
They accuse Wangadya of issuing subjective statements in the public that are sympathizing with the security agencies in regards to human rights violations yet they have consistently been ranked top of most institutions torturing people including political activists, civilians and human rights defenders in several survey reports.
The activists say that on two occasions, Wangadya through her twitter handle attacked individuals for tarnishing the image of security agencies by portraying them as being on mission to discredit security and other government agencies as most human rights violators.
The Union’s lawyer, Gawaya Tegule from Thomas and Michael Advocates while addressing journalists on Friday at Makerere-Kikoni on the shrinking human rights space for activism caused by police brutality, said that it’s unfortunate that the person who was entrusted with protecting human rights of Ugandans openly shows support for the alleged perpetrators of the same rights.
Tegule adds that it would be wise if Wangadya steps down for other people with independent observations and judgment to take over to avoid the precedent she is setting up that would promote more torturing cases among the suspects during arrests and in custodies.
Meanwhile, Annette Nana Nalongo Namata Mwafrika Mbarikiwa, the co-founder of the Human Rights Defenders Union Uganda has called upon Parliament to expedite the Human Rights Defenders Bill to reinforce the Anti-Torture Act and Human Rights Act such that they serve as a reference point on handling activists especially when found in the line of legitimate activism.
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