Uganda: Govt Terminates Operations for UN Human Rights Office in Uganda
allAfricaFeb 08, 2023
Uganda has decided not to renew the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) office in the country, with the government stating it will instead rely on domestic institutions to safeguard human rights.
This comes as Reuters reported on Wednesday that it had access to a letter sent by Uganda's Foreign Affairs Ministry to the Office of the OHCHR last Friday, in which progress in developing a domestic capacity to monitor rights was cited as the main reason for its decision.
Uganda recognizes that it has had a far from perfect human rights record in the past, but that time is behind the country and the current overwatch by the UN human rights office is no longer necessary. Uganda now has a harmonious enough civil society and strong enough institutions to monitor the human rights situation in the country on its own.
The UN human rights office in Uganda has not finished its crucial work. Human rights violations still continue to happen, though the government has repeatedly claimed otherwise. This decision is down to government paranoia about overwatch and accountability. In the absence of the OHCHR, torture, detention, and extrajudicial killings will continue to happen unhindered.