In Uganda, the authorities have prosecuted artists, academics, and anyone else who is critical of President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, or his government.
The LGBTQ+ community has also been targeted by the authorities.
TrialWatch has been monitoring cases that highlight those trends and what they often have in common: the misuse of vague laws, whether to suppress expression or effect discrimination. Even where cases are eventually dismissed, these prosecutions go on for months and cause severe harms.
Ugandan women’s rights activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi’s conviction was overturned on the basis of violations identified by a TrialWatch report submitted to a Ugandan appeals court.
Stella Nyanzi
Among the six trials that TrialWatch monitored through our partners was the trial of a poet and women’s rights activist who was charged with ‘cyber harassment’ for posting a poem critical of the president on Facebook and the trial of 67 individuals who were arrested in a raid on an LGBTQ+ friendly bar.
Our report on the ‘cyber harassment’ trial was used by the defense lawyers on appeal, and the defendant was subsequently released.
Ugandan women’s rights activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi’s conviction was overturned on the basis of violations identified by a TrialWatch report submitted to a Ugandan appeals court.
Dr. Nyanzi was prosecuted for posting a poem critical of the Ugandan President on Facebook in a trial which TrialWatch monitored and graded a “D”.
Uganda: Stella Nyanzi’s Conviction Overturned
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Ugandan women’s rights activist Dr. Stella Nyanzi’s conviction was overturned on the basis of violations identified by a TrialWatch report submitted to a Ugandan appeals court.
Dr. Nyanzi was prosecuted for posting a poem critical of the Ugandan President on Facebook in a trial which TrialWatch monitored and graded a “D”.
[Thanks to TrialWatch] my case was immediately elevated. And the prosecutors… the magistrate… they should have been on alert to know that someone else other than themselves was monitoring the process and going to give a grade.
Women’s Rights Activist
In Uganda, TrialWatch helped secure the dropping of charges against Nicholas Opiyo, a prominent human rights lawyer. Mr. Opiyo was charged with money laundering – an example of how sometimes the charges brought can be a smokescreen for the true motivation of the trial.
TrialWatch reviewed the charge sheet and issued a statement raising concerns about the lack of...
Uganda: Charges Dropped Against Human Rights Lawyer
In Uganda, TrialWatch helped secure the dropping of charges against Nicholas Opiyo, a prominent human rights lawyer. Mr. Opiyo was charged with money laundering – an example of how sometimes the charges brought could be a smokescreen for the true motivation of the trial.
TrialWatch reviewed the charge sheet and issued a statement raising concerns about the lack of detail given about the evidence and charges, calling on the authorities to ensure that any prosecution was well-founded on evidence and not an effort to stifle Mr. Opiyo’s work.
Responding to this pressure, prosecutors dropped the charges.
In Uganda, TrialWatch helped secure the dismissal of charges in proceedings against 67 people following a raid on an LGBTQ+-friendly bar. From 2019 to 2022, TrialWatch sent monitors to observe the proceedings, and reported on the fact that the process was clearly motivated by homophobia as well as exposing serious fair trial violations in a report.
Among other things, the...
Uganda: Charges Dismissed Against 67 People
In Uganda, TrialWatch helped secure the dismissal of charges against 67 people following a raid on an LGBTQ+-friendly bar. From 2019 to 2022, TrialWatch sent monitors to observe the proceedings, and reported on the fact that the process was clearly motivated by homophobia as well as exposing serious fair trial violations in a report.
Among other things, the defendants were denied access to key evidence and subject to undue delays because of prosecutorial misconduct, prolonging the cases so that the defendants (who were on bail) had the charges hanging over them for several years.
Following the release of TrialWatch’s report, courts in three of the cases, covering more than 30 defendants, dismissed the charges on the basis of the prosecution’s conduct.
