Uganda

Violations of freedom of association, assembly, and expression continue in Uganda. In 2017, authorities harshly repressed opposition to the government’s removal of presidential age limits from the constitution, allowing President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, to run again in 2021. Opposition party members and journalists have faced arrest and detention; police have blocked the opposition from accessing media and public meetings. Nongovernmental organizations risk politically motivated charges for allegedly failing to comply with legal provisions that impose vague “special obligations” on independent groups. Authorities have yet to effectively investigate a November 2016 military assault in Kasese where over 100 people, including children, were killed.