Ugandan authorities should release from prison former opposition presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, whose health has deteriorated as the result of a hunger strike, his lawyer, and others who are in detention by reason of the rulings from military courts. On January 31, 2025, Uganda’s Supreme Court declared military trials of civilians unconstitutional and ordered that their cases be transferred to civilian courts.
Besigye was admitted to the hospital on February 16 having been on a hunger strike in protest of his continued detention despite the court ruling. Besigye was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2024, placed in the custody of the Ugandan military, who brought him before a military court where he was charged and remanded to Luzira maximum security prison in Kampala.
The same military court sentenced Besigye’s lawyer, Eron Kiiza, on January 7, 2025, to nine months imprisonment at the Kitalya Maximum Security prison for “contempt of court.” Kiiza had been publicly critical of the military and enjoyed neither a fair trial nor legal representation before being convicted and sentenced.
Besigye and Kiiza are two of many civilians currently in detention because they face or have faced military trials. David Lewis Rubongoya, secretary general of the National Unity Platform, Uganda’s main opposition party, told Human Rights Watch that at least 44 other civilians, some of whom are supporters of his party, are currently imprisoned as a result of military trials. Many were arrested around the 2021 general elections.
Despite the important ruling on the unconstitutionality of military trials for civilians two weeks ago, the Ugandan authorities have not released or transferred the cases of Besigye or the other civilians.
Uganda’s persistent arbitrary detention of civilians violates not only the Supreme Court ruling, but also the rights to liberty and security and to a fair trial guaranteed under international law including multiple treaties to which Uganda is a party. Uganda should respect and uphold human rights and the rule of law and promptly release Besigye, Kiiza, and other wrongfully detained civilians.
