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The United Nations has called on Ugandan authorities to ensure that the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections are conducted safely and warned against the use of violence on protesters and opposition supporters.
Uganda is scheduled to hold elections on January 15, with President Yoweri Museveni, 81, seeking another term after nearly four decades in power. His main challenger is opposition leader and popular musician Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi.
The UN Human Rights Office, in a statement on Friday, said repression and impunity have become entrenched in Uganda since the last general election in 2021, with growing restrictions on free expression, peaceful assembly, and political participation.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said authorities must ensure that all citizens are able to participate in the electoral process “fully and safely.”
“They must… ensure that no unnecessary force, including lethal force, is used to disperse peaceful protests,” Turk said.
His office detailed in a report that a number of laws have been used in the last three years to “silence those with dissenting views,” and the vote was taking place “in an environment marked by widespread repression and intimidation.”
According to the report, opposition leaders and activists have been arrested and detained, political party offices raided, and property confiscated. Radio stations have been suspended, bloggers arrested, and restrictions tightened on non-governmental organisations.
The UN said opposition parties, particularly Wine’s National Unity Platform, have faced “undue restrictions.”
It also raised concerns over the continued detention of veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who was kidnapped in Kenya in November 2024 and remains held in Uganda on what the UN described as questionable treason charges.
Separately, Amnesty International said earlier this week that Ugandan security forces have used torture and arbitrary arrests to intimidate opposition supporters ahead of the vote.
The group reported that security personnel beat protesters and used tear gas against supporters of the National Unity Platform.
The UN also documented abuses by security forces, including the unlawful use of firearms and live ammunition to disperse peaceful gatherings, arbitrary arrests, and prolonged pre-trial detention.
It said opposition supporters have been abducted using unmarked vans, locally known as “drones”, and held incommunicado in unauthorised detention centres.
Dozens of people were killed during campaigning in the 2021 elections, and authorities shut down internet access ahead of polling day. Fears of similar measures have resurfaced after Uganda restricted the importation of Starlink and other satellite internet receivers in December.
