Uganda 2023 Human Rights Report

Executive Summary

During the year, the government enacted the Anti-Homosexuality Act, which
expressly criminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults,
proscribing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and life
imprisonment for “homosexuality.”

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or

unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearance;
torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the
government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or
detention; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; political
prisoners or detainees; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy;
serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including
violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or
prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; serious restrictions on internet
freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly
and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the
organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental and civil society
organizations; inability of citizens to determine their government peacefully
through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on
political participation; serious government corruption; serious government
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restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights

organizations; extensive gender-based violence, including domestic or
intimate partner violence, sexual violence, workplace violence, child, early,
and forced marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, and other forms of
such violence; laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct
between adults, which were enforced; and crimes involving violence or
threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or
intersex persons.

The government did not take credible steps to identify and punish officials
who may have committed human rights abuses.

Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person

a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or

Politically Motivated Killings

There were several reports the government or its agents committed

arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings, during the year.

Opposition activists, local media, and human rights activists reported

security forces killed some individuals the government identified as
dissidents and those it accused of criminal activity. In February, local media
and opposition supporters reported security agencies detained and tortured
National Unity Platform (NUP) supporter Coster Muhongya, age 70, leading

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to his death. According to media reports, on January 5, plainclothes security

officers arrested Muhongya in Kasese district and detained him at Masaka
police post and later at the Special Investigations Division in Kireka, “where
he died during interrogation.” A police spokesperson told a press
conference Muhongya’s death “resulted from a bathroom fall while in
custody,” adding police arrested Muhongya regarding his suspected
involvement in recruiting members for the terrorist group ISIS-Democratic
Republic of the Congo (ISIS-DRC, locally known as the Allied Democratic
Forces).

b. Disappearance

There were numerous reports of disappearances by or on behalf of

government authorities. Local media, opposition political parties, and
human rights lawyers reported the military – particularly the Chieftaincy for
Military Intelligence (CMI) and the Special Forces Command (SFC) – and
police held individuals, often opposition supporters, at unidentified
locations without charge. The opposition NUP party reported that while an
unspecified number of its supporters were unaccounted for, security forces
randomly detained its supporters without trial.

The NUP petitioned the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) with the
names of 30 supporters the party’s officials said were missing, some since
2019. On October 10, the UHRC reported its investigations revealed security

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agencies released from detention 12 of the 30 missing NUP supporters after

charging them with various crimes, including murder.

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses

The constitution and law prohibited such practices, but there were credible
reports security forces tortured and physically abused suspects, according to
Amnesty International and other human rights activists. Impunity was
rampant.

On February 13, NUP officials called a press conference and presented NUP
supporter Eric Mwesigwa, who had burn marks on his chest, which he said
were sustained during detention by the security services. According to
Mwesigwa, a motorcycle taxi driver, on January 31, he was stopped and
detained by unidentified security officers as he drove a client home. The
security officers burned Mwesigwa “with hot metals” on his chest as they
interrogated him concerning alleged NUP plans to overthrow the
government. The security officers 10 days later dumped Mwesigwa, and a
fellow motorcycle taxi driver found him and drove him to a health facility for
medical treatment. On February 14, Uganda People’s Defense Forces
(UPDF) spokesperson Brigadier Felix Kulayigye released a statement claiming
none of the security agencies detained Mwesigwa. On March 1, at a UPDF
press conference, Mwesigwa recanted his accusation and instead accused

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NUP officials of inflicting the burns to malign the security services,

reportedly in exchange for a cash payment of 50 million Ugandan shillings
($13,500). NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi stated on March 1, “this was an
amateurish attempt by the UPDF to spin the unfortunate torture of a citizen
by the army.”

On July 11, media reported a foreign lawyer petitioned the International

Criminal Court with testimony from 215 opposition supporters in the
country who alleged torture at the hands of security agencies in the
aftermath of the 2021 general election. The petition named President
Yoweri Museveni, his son General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Speaker of
Parliament Anita Among, and 23 other officials as responsible for “aiding
and abetting” human rights abuses. A government spokesperson told local
media the torture allegations were “attention-seeking propaganda.”

Human rights organizations reported police subjected lesbian, gay, bisexual,

transgender, queer, or intersex (LGBTQI+) persons to forced anal exams.
Impunity was a problem and was widespread within the police, military,
prisons service, and executive branch. Security forces did not take adequate
measures to investigate and punish officers implicated in human rights
abuses, especially in incidents involving political opposition members.

Prison and Detention Center Conditions

Conditions in prisons and detention centers were harsh and, in some cases,

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life threatening due to gross overcrowding, inadequate sanitary conditions,

physical abuse of detainees by security staff and fellow inmates, inadequate
food, and understaffing.

Abusive Physical Conditions: Gross overcrowding was a problem in prisons,

police cells, and unofficial detention facilities. The Uganda Prisons Service
(UPS) reported in July prisons operated at 273 percent over capacity with
“four inmates occupying the space allocated for one.” Members of the
Human Rights Committee of parliament in March reported some inmates
were forced to sleep in bathrooms due to overcrowding, which exposed
inmates to disease. Legislators also reported overcrowding enabled the
spread of sexual abuse among inmates. Former detainees reported prison
prefects (inmates upon whom prison authorities bestowed a leadership
position to supervise their fellow inmates) often beat their fellow inmates
whom they accused of disobeying prison regulations.

Administration: Local human rights activists reported authorities did not

always carry out investigations into credible allegations of mistreatment and
only took administrative measures against errant officers if the abuses
attracted negative publicity.

Independent Monitoring: Local human rights organizations reported the

government permitted monitoring by independent nongovernmental
observers. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported it visited
13 places of detention in accordance with its standard procedures. Findings
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from these visits on detainees’ treatment and living conditions were

submitted to and discussed confidentially with authorities, including the
military, police, and UPS.

Improvements: In April, the UPS reported it facilitated the training of 34

prisons officers in human rights law and supported the operations of human
rights desks and committees in 259 prison stations.

d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention

Although the law prohibited arbitrary arrest and detention, security forces
often arbitrarily arrested and detained persons, especially opposition
supporters, activists, demonstrators, journalists, and LGBTQI+ persons. The
law provided for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of their
arrest or detention in court, but this mechanism was seldom employed and
rarely successful.

Arrest Procedures and Treatment of Detainees

The law required judges or prosecutors to issue a warrant before authorities

made an arrest unless the arrest occurred during commission of a crime or
while in pursuit of a perpetrator, but authorities often arrested suspects
without warrants. The law required authorities to arraign suspects within
48 hours of arrest, but they frequently held suspects longer without charge.
A Lawyers without Borders survey of 59 suspects in police custody without

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court arraignment reported approximately half were detained for three to

nine days, and a third were incarcerated from 10 days to one month.
Authorities were required to try suspects arrested for capital offenses within
360 days (120 days if charged with an offense triable by subordinate courts)
or release them on bail. If prosecutors presented the case to a court within
this time, however, there was no limit on further pretrial detention. While
the law required authorities to inform detainees immediately of the reasons
for detention, at times they did not do so.

The law provided for bail at the judge’s discretion, but many suspects were
unaware of the law or lacked the financial means to pay bail fees. Judges
generally granted requests for bail. Human rights organizations reported
illiterate persons were disproportionately more likely to come into conflict
with the law and be detained, which led to high rates of abuse of rights to
bail and police bond due to a lack of awareness of the right and an inability
to afford legal services. The law provided detainees the right to legal
representation and access to a lawyer, but authorities did not always
respect this right. The law required the government to provide an attorney
for indigent defendants charged with capital offenses, and the government
adhered to this requirement. Most defendants endured significant delays
through the judicial process before the conclusion of their cases. Security
forces often held opposition political members and other suspects
incommunicado.

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Arbitrary Arrest: Arbitrary arrests and unlawful detention, particularly of

dissidents, were problems. Police and military officials on numerous
occasions arrested and harassed opposition supporters, especially those
who posted videos on social media platforms such as TikTok that were
critical of government officials. Local media and the NUP reported that on
February 15, UPDF officers arrested NUP supporter Hamza Isma Mubiru,
also known as Sadam Sadat, in Kampala and detained him in the Makindye
military barracks and the police’s Special Investigations Division for more
than a month without an arraignment. On March 22, police released
Mubiru after initiating an investigation into his alleged involvement in
terrorism. A police spokesperson told local media the CMI was responsible
for Mubiru’s detention, but the CMI refused to comment on the issue.

Pretrial Detention: Case backlogs due to an inefficient judiciary, inadequate

police investigations, absence of plea bargaining prior to 2015, insufficient
use of bail, and absence of a time limit for the detention of detainees
awaiting trial contributed to frequent prolonged pretrial detentions. There
was not sufficient information available to determine if pretrial detentions
frequently equaled or exceeded the maximum sentence for the alleged
crime.

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

The constitution and law provided for an independent judiciary, but the

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government did not always respect judicial independence and impartiality.

Corruption, understaffing, inefficiency, and executive-branch interference
with judicial rulings often undermined the courts’ independence. Human
rights activists, lawyers, judicial officers, and local media reported that on
many occasions, security agencies defied court orders to release detainees
or arraign persons they detained without charge, and they reported security
agents intimidated judicial officers from offering bail to political detainees.
Activists also reported that due to a lack of judicial independence, the
judiciary unnecessarily delayed human rights petitions by denying hearing
dates or prolonging hearing sessions.

Judicial corruption was a problem, and local media reported numerous cases
where judicial officers in lower courts solicited and accepted bribes from the
parties involved.

Trial Procedures

The law provided for the right to a fair and public trial, but the government
did not always enforce this right. Although the law provided for a
presumption of innocence, authorities did not always respect this right. An
inadequate system of judicial administration resulted in a serious backlog of
cases, undermining suspects’ right to a timely trial. All nonmilitary trials
were public. The law allowed military courts to try civilians who assisted
members of the military in committing offenses or were found possessing
arms, ammunition, or other equipment reserved for the armed forces.
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Military courts prosecuted NUP supporters wearing red berets, a clothing

item common to both NUP and the military. Civilians charged in military
courts were often denied the right to a public trial, to communicate with an
attorney of their choice, and to file an appeal in the civilian court system.

Political Prisoners and Detainees

Authorities detained numerous opposition politicians and activists on

politically motivated grounds. Authorities released many without charge
but charged others in military courts with crimes such as illegal possession
of firearms, spreading harmful propaganda, “offensive communication,” and
inciting violence. According to human rights lawyers, military courts were
less independent than their civilian counterparts and allowed authorities to
hold detainees indefinitely. Human rights lawyers reported police and
military detention facilities sometimes denied political detainees access to
and communication with their attorneys. No reliable statistics on the total
number of political detainees or prisoners were available. The International
Committee of the Red Cross and the UHRC reported authorities provided
access to places of detention upon request.

NUP officials reported security agencies arrested and sometimes detained

without trial party supporters who posted social media content critical of
government officials. In January, NUP officials reported unidentified
security officers arrested NUP supporter Anthony Agaba, also known as Bobi
Young, outside Kampala, after he posted videos mocking Speaker of
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Parliament Anita Among. Agaba remained in detention until January 30,

when UPDF officers arraigned him alongside two military officers in a
military court in Kampala and charged him with spreading harmful
propaganda. The accused officers pled guilty and received a nine-month
prison sentence each. Agaba instead pled not guilty, and the court
remanded him to prison until May 9, when it released him on bail.
Authorities held more than 30 NUP supporters arrested in December 2020
in the run-up to the January 2021 election on charges of illegal possession of
firearms. On April 4, a military prosecutor added an extra charge of
treachery. On February 13, the court released on bail two NUP members of
parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya and Allan Ssewanyana, who were in
detention 524 days on murder and terrorism charges, which they denied.

f. Transnational Repression

Not applicable.

g. Property Seizure and Restitution

Human rights organizations reported government and private sector players

provided inadequate compensation to families affected by evictions to make
way for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Human Rights Watch reported
in June some affected families spoke of receiving pressure and intimidation
from private companies and government officials to accept financial
compensation that would be “inadequate to buy replacement land.” A
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spokesperson for the government’s petroleum regulator dismissed the

reports and stated the oil companies building the pipeline abided by local,
national, and international standards.

h. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family,

Home, or Correspondence

The constitution and law prohibited such actions, but there were reports the
government failed to respect these prohibitions. Government authorities
reportedly entered homes without judicial or other appropriate
authorization; accessed, collected, or used private communications or
personal data arbitrarily or without appropriate legal authority;
implemented regulations and practices that allowed for arbitrary or
unlawful interference with privacy, including use of technology arbitrarily or
unlawfully to surveil or interfere with the privacy of individuals; used
technologies and practices including internet and social media controls,
blocking or filtering of websites and social media platforms, sensors,
biometric data collection, and data analytics; and punished family members
for offenses allegedly committed by relatives. The law authorized
government security agencies to tap private conversations to combat
terrorism-related offenses. The government invoked the law to monitor
telephone and internet communications.

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Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties

a. Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the

Press and Other Media

The constitution and law provided for freedom of expression, including for
members of the press and other media, but the government often restricted
this right.

Freedom of Expression: The government restricted citizens’ ability to

criticize its actions and officials or to discuss some matters of public interest.
The law made it illegal to “write, send, or share any information through a
computer, which is likely to ridicule, degrade, or demean another person,
group of persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion or gender.” Authorities
used this law to intimidate internet users from criticizing government
policies. NUP officials reported security agents tracked, intimidated, and
arrested its supporters for posting videos on the internet critical of
government officials and policies. Security officials arrested and charged
NUP supporter Anthony Agaba with spreading harmful propaganda after he
shared online videos critical of government officials. Several activists and
journalists reported receiving death threats after participating in online
campaigns on X (formerly Twitter) highlighting the poor state of road
infrastructure and health services. The minister for information and
communications technology warned social media users to desist from
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participating in the campaign or they would be arrested for breaching

internet communication laws. Dissident author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija
reported government officials blocked the importation and sale of his book
The Savage Avenger, which was critical of President Museveni’s son, General
Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Violence and Harassment: Security forces subjected journalists and media

houses to violence, harassment, and intimidation. Local media and media
freedom activists reported numerous incidents of security officials, local
government officials, and private individuals with connections to
government officials assaulting journalists in the course of their work. Civil
society organization Human Rights Network for Journalists Uganda also
reported several incidents of police officers detaining journalists on the
orders of government officials as punishment for unfavorable news
coverage. On October 5, SFC officers arrested 14 journalists as they covered
NUP President Kyagulanyi’s return to the country from a foreign trip.
According to media freedom activists, SFC officers beat the journalists and
confiscated their equipment, before releasing them later that day. A police
statement noted police would investigate reports of assault on the
journalists. On March 5, police arrested journalist Andrew Arinaitwe at a
high school outside Kampala on suspicion of criminal trespass as he
researched a sexual abuse story. On March 9, police arraigned Arinaitwe
and charged him with criminal trespass. The court granted bail to Arinaitwe
on March 15 and dismissed the charges against him on August 15.
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Censorship or Content Restrictions for Members of the Press and Other

Media, Including Online Media: Journalists, opposition politicians, and
human rights activists reported authorities wielded control over editorial
decisions at public broadcasters and at some private media outlets as well.
The government penalized those who published items counter to its
guidelines and directly and indirectly censored media, including by
controlling licensing and advertising and instructing editors to suspend
critical journalists. Press freedom activists reported the government used
advertising to control editorial coverage of private media organizations. On
July 18, President Museveni instructed all government advertising be issued
to the public broadcaster and other government media to enable them to
meet operational costs, but he rescinded the directive on August 10 after
advocacy from private media owners.

Government officials and ruling party members owned many of the private
rural radio stations and imposed reporting restrictions. Media practitioners
stated government and security agents occasionally called editors and
instructed them to refrain from publishing stories portraying the
government negatively, hosting critical commentators on radio and
television talk shows, and discussing some political matters. The police’s
Media and Political Crimes Unit and communications regulator Uganda
Communications Commission closely monitored all radio, television, and
print media. The government maintained a 2021 ban of Facebook stemming
from the company’s suspension of accounts linked to government officials
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for “inauthentic behavior.” Journalists, facing government pressure,

practiced self-censorship.

Nongovernmental Impact: On July 21, media reported unidentified

vigilante youth ran out of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change
(FDC) secretariat in Kampala and assaulted journalists covering party
proceedings at the secretariat, injuring several. Party President Patrick
Amuriat announced an “in-depth investigation.”

Internet Freedom

The government restricted and disrupted access to the internet by:

censoring online content, monitoring internet communications without
appropriate legal authority, blocking access, pressuring internet platforms
and technology companies to restrict content, charging individuals with
crimes punishable by civil fines or criminal punishments, prohibiting online
anonymity for some individuals, disrupting communications prior to
elections or planned demonstrations, and using bots or trolls to manipulate
social media discourse.

b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The government restricted freedoms of peaceful assembly and association.

Government failure to investigate or prosecute attacks on human rights
defenders and peaceful protesters led to de facto restrictions on freedom of

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assembly and association.

Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

The constitution provided for freedom of assembly, but the government did
not respect this right. The government blocked and disrupted public
meetings and peaceful protests by the opposition, as well as trade unionists.

On April 21, police officers used sticks, batons, and teargas to beat and
disperse NUP officials and their supporters who gathered in Buvuma district
to mark International Women’s Day. Local media reported NUP Member of
Parliament for Buvuma District Suzan Nakaziba Mugabi was hospitalized
after sustaining injuries. Police claimed in a statement that officers
responded to an unlawful assembly and only arrested the politicians and
their supporters after they turned violent. On April 24, police announced
the suspension of 11 officers in Buvuma District pending investigation into
“excessive use of force...and the alleged beating and torture of Buvuma
Woman [parliamentarian] and some of her supporters.” On April 27, police
arrested 11 NUP women parliamentarians who held a demonstration in
Kampala to protest police brutality. Police released them the same day
without charge.

Freedom of Association

While the constitution and law provided for freedom of association, the
government did not respect this right. The government restricted the
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operations of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), especially those

working on civil and political rights, including human rights of LGBTQI+
persons, and LGBTQI+ activists reported the government did not fully
investigate attacks on LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations. The government
also revoked the operational mandate for international organizations
working on human rights matters (see section 5). Government regulations
required NGOs to disclose sources of funding and personal information
regarding employees and imposed onerous registration and reporting
requirements.

The regulations enabled the National Bureau for Nongovernmental

Organizations (NGO Bureau), a government agency that formally registered
organizations, and its local-level structures to deny registration to any
organization focused on topics deemed “undesirable” or “prejudicial” to the
“dignity of the people of Uganda.” The regulations also provided the NGO
Bureau broad powers to inspect NGO offices and records and to suspend
NGO activities without due process. The NGO Bureau imposed registration,
permit renewal, and administrative fees, which local NGOs declared
exorbitant. NGOs working on civil and political rights reported the NGO
Bureau and police officials carried out numerous impromptu inspections of
their offices, intimidating staff and threatening to close the premises,
sometimes without cause. LGBTQI+ organizations reported frequent
harassment by security officials and NGO Bureau officials.

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The government also restricted the operations of opposition political parties

(see section 3, Elections and Political Participation).

c. Freedom of Religion

See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at

https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/.

d. Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the

Country

The law provided for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel,

emigration and repatriation, and the government generally respected these
rights.

e. Protection of Refugees

The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing
protection and assistance to refugees, returning refugees, or asylum
seekers, as well as other persons of concern. Most refugees enjoyed access
to asylum; relative freedom of movement; freedom of residence; the right
to registration and documentation; and access to justice, education, health
care, and employment.

Access to Asylum: The law provided for the granting of asylum or refugee

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status, and the government had a system for providing protection to

refugees. Individuals fleeing South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC) (if the Congolese were from eastern DRC) who entered the
country through a designated border post had prima facie refugee status
(status without requiring individual determination of refugee status). The
local Refugee Eligibility Committee, however, determined whether
individuals fleeing from Rwanda, Somalia, Burundi, or other countries, as
well as South Sudanese and Congolese refugees who entered through
nondesignated border points, were eligible for refugee status. The
committee was functional, but administrative matters and the influx of
asylum seekers caused backlogs, despite efforts by UNHCR and the
government to expedite the process.

Abuse of Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Some refugees reported

government officials demanded bribes from refugees to process or issue
paperwork, including for refugees to acquire land or food benefits.

Durable Solutions: The government did not accept third-country refugees

for resettlement, but it assisted in the safe and voluntary return of refugees
to their homes and supported the resettlement of third-country refugees to
other countries by providing birth certificates and travel documents. A 2015
Constitutional Court ruling confirmed certain long-term refugees had the
right to apply to naturalize, and in 2016 the government committed to begin
processing naturalization cases for an estimated 15,000 refugees who had

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resided in the country for approximately 20 years. The law provided

restrictions to any such application, stating, “notwithstanding any provision
of this Act or any other law, any period of residence in Uganda under the
authority of any … convention travel document shall not be taken into
account in computing the time of residence in Uganda for purposes of
acquisition of citizenship by registration or naturalization.” The law defined
“convention travel document” as a travel document issued to a refugee
under the relevant refugee instruments and laws. There were no known
cases of any refugee completing naturalization.

Section 3. Freedom to Participate in the Political

Process

The law provided citizens the ability to choose their government in free and
fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal
suffrage. The law, however, also allowed authorities to carry out elections
for local government officials by having voters line up behind their preferred
candidate or the candidate’s representative, portrait, or symbol.

Elections and Political Participation

Abuses or Irregularities in Recent Elections: National elections were widely

reported not to be fair and free of abuses and irregularities.

The government held several parliamentary and local government by-

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elections, which media, opposition parties, and observers reported featured

voter harassment, violence, and intimidation by the security forces, as well
as ballot stuffing; President Museveni acknowledged some of these
allegations. In June, the government held a local government by-election in
Bukedea District. Independent candidate David Stephen Omagor told local
media that on June 5, unidentified individuals dressed in police uniforms
broke into his house, and on June 6, when Omagor arrived at the Electoral
Commission offices for nomination, a group of unidentified youth assaulted
and beat him. During the incidents, Omagor claims the individuals took his
medication, 163 million Ugandan shillings ($43,900) meant for electoral
campaign expenses, and his nomination documents, leading him to miss the
nomination. On polling day June 14, local media reported FDC
representatives complained security and polling officials allowed ruling party
officials to stuff ballots premarked in favor of their favorite candidate into
ballot boxes. Local media also reported police officers beat two journalists
and confiscated their equipment as the journalists covered the distribution
of polling materials. On June 26, President Museveni wrote to the Anti-
Corruption Unit instructing officials to investigate acts of electoral
malpractice in the by-election. In July, police arrested nine police and local
government officers and charged them in court with a combination of
robbery and assault charges. On July 26, the court granted bail to four of
the suspects.

Political Parties and Political Participation: Opposition parties reported

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security agencies used a provision of the law meant for regulating public
meetings to restrict their operations. The NUP and FDC reported police
officers restricted some of their officials from holding public events and
blocked some party officials from participating in electoral processes. On
August 5, police entered a hotel in Kyenjojo town in the western part of the
country and disrupted a mobilization meeting held by NUP officials with
party supporters, asserting the meeting was an unlawful assembly and
accusing organizers of inciting violence. Police arrested five NUP officials
and injured two in the process. Police released the NUP officials the same
day without charge.

Participation of Women and Members of Marginalized or Vulnerable

Groups: Cultural factors, high costs, and sexual harassment limited
women’s ability to run for political office. Women activists reported the
official fees required to secure a nomination to run for elected office were
prohibitively high and prevented most women from running for election.
Human rights activists also reported many women were locked out of
political positions because they lacked minimum education qualifications for
the positions, having been denied the right to education earlier in life.
Activists reported members of security agencies committed violence and
harassment, which discouraged women from voting. Women activists
reported sexual harassment in political spaces discouraged women from
participating in politics. Activists reported the number of women legislators
holding open seats dwindled because of the affirmative action policy, which
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reserved a legislative position for women in each district. They also

reported internal political party processes locked women out of contesting
for open seats, limiting them to affirmative action seats, and media
coverage mocked and trivialized women candidates. Activists also reported
persons with a disability were discouraged from seeking electoral office
because by law they would be required to show proof they were of sound
mind.

Section 4. Corruption in Government

The law provided criminal penalties for corruption by officials; however, civil
society organizations stated the government did not implement the law
effectively. There were numerous reports of government corruption.

Corruption: Officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity,

especially through inflation of public procurement costs, bribery, kickbacks,
and diversion of public resources to private use, while many corruption
cases remained pending for years. On February 13, local media reported the
Anti-Corruption Unit in the Office of the President arrested three family
members of Minister for Karamoja Affairs Mary Goretti Kitutu after they
were found selling government relief items including roofing materials
known as “iron sheets,” which were intended for some of the country’s
poorest communities in Karamoja, in the northern part of the country. Local
media subsequently reported Kitutu’s office diverted almost half of the iron

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sheets to other ministers for their personal use. On March 15, local media
reported President Museveni instructed the Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions to have the implicated officials prosecuted. In April, the public
prosecutor charged Ministers Kitutu, Lugolobi, and Nandutu with corruption
and the court remanded them to prison, before releasing them on bail. The
ministers’ trials continued at year’s end. On March 28, police arrested 11
anti-corruption activists when they held a demonstration demanding
prosecution of the ministers. Prosecutors charged the 11 activists with
inciting violence and the court remanded them to prison until it released
them on bail on May 5. Their trial continued at year’s end.

For additional information concerning corruption in the country, please see

the Department of State’s Investment Climate Statement for the country,
and the Department of State’s International Narcotics Control Strategy
Report, which includes information on financial crimes.

Section 5. Governmental Posture Towards

International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and
Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights

A variety of domestic and international human rights groups operated under

government restrictions, and government officials sometimes declined to
cooperate with these groups. Local NGOs advocating for the human rights

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of LGBTQI+ persons faced restrictions and lack of cooperation by the

government.

Retribution against Human Rights Defenders: Human rights defenders

(HRDs) reported receiving numerous threats of arrest and death threats
from security officials for their work. Some HRDs reported a certain number
of human rights organizations temporarily sent HRDs out of the country for
their safety after receiving threats. HRDs working in the environment space,
especially those involved in advocacy against the East African Crude Oil
Pipeline, reported some HRDs quit their jobs in fear of attack from security
officers. LGBTQI+ activists reported HRDs working with sexual minorities
were at a high risk of harassment from both security officials and private
individuals.

The United Nations or Other International Bodies: The government did not
cooperate with some UN specialized agencies that monitored human rights.
On February 3, the government notified the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) it would not renew the OHCHR’s
mandate in the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated the
government had built sufficient human rights monitoring mechanisms,
rendering the OHCHR office unnecessary. Media and human rights activists
alleged the government’s decision was in retaliation for the OHCHR’s
criticism of the country’s human rights record, especially in relation to
reports of extrajudicial killings in the run-up to the 2021 election. The

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OHCHR closed its local office on August 5.

Government Human Rights Bodies: The UHRC was a constitutionally

mandated institution with quasi-judicial powers authorized to investigate
allegations of human rights abuses, direct the release of detainees, and
award compensation to abuse victims. The president appointed its board,
consisting of a chairperson and five commissioners.

The UHRC pursued suspected human rights abusers, including accused

members of the military and police forces. It visited and inspected places of
detention and held private conferences with detainees on their conditions in
custody. It investigated reports of human rights abuses, reported its annual
findings to parliament, and recommended measures to improve the
executive branch’s respect of human rights. The government did not always
implement UHRC recommendations during the year. The UHRC released its
annual report on May 25, but human rights activists criticized the report for
ignoring abuse of civil and political rights and rights of the LGBTQI+
community.

Section 6. Discrimination and Societal Abuses

Women

Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalized rape of women, which
was punishable by life imprisonment or death, but did not address spousal

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rape. During the year, the government enacted a law that expressly
criminalized consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults,
proscribing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” which
included men raping other men. The government also used a law
prohibiting “carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” to
prosecute men accused of raping men. The law did not address so-called
corrective rape of LGBTQI+ persons. The law also criminalized domestic
violence and provided up to two years’ imprisonment upon conviction.

Rape and domestic violence were common problems throughout the

country, and the government did not effectively enforce the law. Local
media and women rights activists reported numerous incidents of rape,
sometimes involving kidnapping and killings of women, but authorities were
often unable to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable. Local media
reported perpetrators of rape included persons in positions of authority
such as religious leaders, local government officials, police and military
officers, health-care workers, and academic staff. Women’s rights activists
reported some police officers sexually abused individuals in commercial sex
whom they arrested as a precondition for their release. According to local
media and human rights activists, many rape survivors lacked faith in
government institutions to bring their abusers to justice and declined to
report the crime, while others remained silent to avoid stigmatization.

Human rights activists and local media reported that even when women

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reported cases of rape to police, officers blamed the women for causing the
rape by dressing indecently, took bribes from the alleged perpetrators to
stop the investigation, pressured survivors into withdrawing the cases, or
simply dismissed the accusations and refused to record them. Women’s
rights activists reported survivors also declined to report cases or participate
in investigations because the process of collecting evidence was intrusive
and dehumanizing. Disability rights activists reported women with
disabilities, especially blind women, women with mental disabilities, and
women living with albinism, were at a disproportionately higher risk for rape
and other forms of gender-based violence. Freedom and Roam Uganda
reported lesbians and transgender women suffered gender-based violence
and “corrective rape” in reported attempts to change their sexuality.

On August 3, local media reported police initiated investigations into

allegations a senior police officer within the Directorate of Crime
Intelligence, Gilbert Bwana Arinaitwe, raped a woman domestic worker, age
23, in his household after threatening her with a firearm. According to local
media, the domestic worker stated Arinaitwe raped her on several occasions
starting July 25, and warned her against reporting the crime to authorities.
On August 11, the public prosecutor charged Arinaitwe with trafficking in
persons. Court officials remanded Arinaitwe to prison and granted him bail
on August 18. The judiciary held special gender-based violence court
sessions, which reduced case backlog and helped the judiciary improve
conviction rates.
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Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): The law prohibited FGM/C

and established a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment for convicted
perpetrators or life imprisonment if the victim died. The government did
not effectively enforce the law. Local media and government officials
reported the practice was common among some communities along the
eastern border with Kenya. Women’s rights activists reported in July some
elders within the Karamojong community smuggled girls younger than 18
into Kenya to undergo FGM because they believed Kenyan authorities were
less diligent in enforcing anti-FGM measures. Activists also reported some
traditional birth attendants within the Karamoja region forced pregnant
women seeking services to undergo FGM before attending to them.
Women’s rights activists reported some community elders in the eastern
part of the country waited until teenage girls returned home during school
holidays and then subjected them to FGM/C, when there was little scrutiny
from school officials. Civil society organizations also reported community
elders, predominantly women, who conducted FGM/C procedures,
continued the practice because they did not have alternative livelihoods to
replace the 15,000-to-30,000 Ugandan shillings ($4 to $8) paid for each
procedure.

Women’s rights activists reported they built informant networks with local
government leaders who shared information on FGM practices and
practitioners. Activists then used the information to report cases to police.
Activists noted, however, that some police officers opted to warn FGM
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practitioners instead of arresting them. A police officer told local media in

January that police failed to act against FGM perpetrators because the
officers were unable to secure the requisite evidence that could lead to a
conviction. Police reported officers carried out community sensitization
efforts to encourage behavior change. Civil society organizations reported
they worked with the government to identify and relocate girls at risk of
FGM/C to shelters.

Other Forms of Gender-based Violence or Harassment: The law

criminalized sexual harassment, but authorities did not effectively enforce
the law. Women’s rights activists reported sexual harassment was a
widespread problem in homes, schools, universities, workplaces, public
transport, public spaces, media, and the music and entertainment industry.
Women members of parliament reported sexual harassment was so
prevalent within the legislature it discouraged women from participating in
politics. Women’s rights activists reported low-ranking women officials
lacked adequate institutional tools for reporting sexual harassment in the
workplace and stigma associated with reporting sexual harassment abuses
prevented many survivors from speaking out.

Local media, police, and women’s rights activists reported violence against
widows was prevalent. Police officers in Wakiso District reported in June
police stations were sometimes overwhelmed by the number of widows
seeking shelter after their deceased husband’s families evicted them from

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the matrimonial property.

Discrimination: The law provided women the same legal status and rights
as men, but the government did not enforce the law effectively. Women’s
rights activists reported numerous cases of discrimination against women,
including in divorce, employment, education, and owning or managing
businesses and properties. Many customary laws discriminated against
women in adoption, marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Women’s rights
activists reported as discriminatory a November 2022 court ruling that wives
were not entitled to 50 percent of matrimonial property, as well as a March
2 court ruling that found an evangelical church could lawfully require only
women to seek parental consent before marriage, not men. Customary laws
in many areas stipulated widowed women could not own or inherit property
or retain custody of their children. Human rights activists reported lesbians,
transgender, and queer women were at a higher risk of discrimination at
public health facilities. Traditional divorce law in many areas required
women to meet stricter evidentiary standards than men to prove adultery.
In some ethnic groups, men could “inherit” the widows of their deceased
brothers. The law did not recognize cohabiting relationships, and women
involved in such relationships had no judicial recourse to protect their rights.
Women faced discrimination in employment and hiring, as well as broad
economic discrimination.

Reproductive Rights: There were no reports of coerced abortion or

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involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities.

Disability rights activists reported that although persons with disabilities had
the right to access reproductive services, the absence of health workers with
the ability to communicate with blind and deaf patients meant many
persons with disabilities did not receive sufficient information regarding
reproductive health services. Activists reported government sexual and
reproductive health programs did not provide for adequate outreach to
women with disabilities, leaving many in rural and remote areas without
access to the services. According to activists, public health institutions did
not cater to persons with disabilities when making official communication,
for example, by using braille technology. Human rights activists also
reported many women with disabilities depended on close family members
for access to sexual and reproductive health services limiting their ability to
make free choices regarding their sexual health and limiting their right to
privacy. Activists reported some public health workers declined to attend to
pregnant women with disabilities unless they employed a personal
caretaker.

LGBTQI+ activists reported LGBTQI+ persons were able to provide informed

consent before receiving reproductive health treatment, although many
lesbians and bisexual and queer women preferred to access sexual and
reproductive health services at LGBTQI+ drop-in centers as they found public
health facilities did not cater to their needs. The activists reported some

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public health officials declined to provide health care, including reproductive

health services, to LGBTQI+ persons.

Human rights activists and government officials reported cultural practices

in some remote areas impeded access to sexual and reproductive health
services for women. Women’s rights activists reported some public
hospitals required women to secure their partner’s consent before accessing
some sexual and reproductive health services. Public health workers
provided insufficient information regarding the side effects of
contraceptives, which inadvertently discouraged some women from seeking
sexual and reproductive health services after experiencing severe side
effects. Some men in rural and remote areas refused to use contraception
and in turn also prohibited their partners from accessing sexual and
reproductive health services.

Activists also reported some religious organizations actively campaigned

against women seeking sexual and reproductive health services, and cultural
practices that placed a higher premium on women who bore more children
prevented some women from accessing sexual and reproductive health
services. Human rights activists reported many public health service
providers declined to provide sexual and reproductive health services to
teenagers, particularly those age 17 and younger, because the age of
consent was 18. This practice led to many cases of teenage pregnancies and
a rise in HIV infection among teenage girls.

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Human rights activists reported Family and Child Protection Units at police
stations provided postexposure prophylaxis for rape survivors but often
referred survivors to shelters for emergency contraception.

Maternal mortality was 189 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the
World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 Demographics and Health Survey.
Media and activists attributed the high rate to an inability of pregnant
women to access skilled medical care due to limited funding of public health
facilities, which led to understaffing, drug shortages, power outages, a
preference for traditional birth attendants over skilled medical workers, and
unsafe abortions. According to the WHO, adolescent birth rates were high
at 111 per 1,000 girls for the period 2011 to 2020, the most recent period
for which data was available. According to human rights activists and the
WHO, the elevated adolescent pregnancy rate was caused by statutory rape,
child sexual exploitation, a high rate of school dropouts, and limited
knowledge of contraception among teenagers.

There were social and cultural barriers related to menstruation and access
to menstruation hygiene that impacted girls’ ability to participate equally in
society, including many limits on girls’ access to education. Many girls in
school suffered stigmatization and bullying due to the lack of access to
menstrual hygiene products, causing higher instances of dropping out. Local
media and child rights activists reported girls who became pregnant while in
school almost always dropped out. According to child rights activists, for

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girls in school, the government required mandatory maternity leave at three

months of a pregnancy until six months after delivery, but women’s rights
activists reported schools owned by religious organizations declined to
readmit the girls at all. The government policy required the boy responsible
for the pregnancy to simultaneously drop out of school until the girl
returned. Human rights activists reported teenage mothers who returned to
school after giving birth quickly dropped out due to stigma and because
schools lacked capacity to cater to the needs of lactating mothers.

Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination

The law prohibited discrimination and violence based on race, ethnicity,

religion, origin, social or economic standing, and political opinion, but the
government did not enforce the law effectively. The government operated
an Equal Opportunities Commission with a mandate to promote equal and
fair access to opportunities without discrimination.

Indigenous Peoples

Some Indigenous minorities accused the government of marginalization that

excluded them from participating in decisions affecting their livelihood.
Human rights activists reported the government did not grant official
recognition to several Indigenous communities, which led to political
exclusion, limited access to social services, and limited access to livelihood
resources. The activists reported members of some Indigenous
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communities took up other ethnic identities while submitting official

documentation because their original documents were not officially
recognized. Human rights activists reported the government only partially
compensated and resettled Batwa and Benet communities whom it evicted
from their ancestral lands to create wildlife protection areas in the eastern
and southwestern parts of the country. The government did not issue land
titles to members of the Batwa and Benet communities it resettled, thus
restricting their access to land for livelihood. Local media reported the
government made attempts to resettle the Batwa community on arable
farmland, which did not accommodate the community’s hunter-gatherer
lifestyle.

Children

Education: Local media and civil society organizations reported that child,
early, and forced marriages and teenage pregnancy led to a higher rate of
school dropouts for girls than for boys. Some schools – particularly those
managed by religious institutions – did not allow pregnant girls to return to
school. While primary school enrollment was high, according to the latest
government statistics, only 27 percent of secondary school age children
were enrolled in school.

Human rights activists reported children from the Benet and Batuku
Indigenous communities were forced by local education authorities to

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undertake school instruction in the languages spoken by their larger

neighboring ethnic groups, a practice they believed threatened their culture.

Child Abuse: The law prohibited numerous forms of child abuse and
provided for fines, five years’ imprisonment, or both for persons convicted
of abusing children’s rights. Victims’ parents, however, often opted to settle
cases out of court for a cash or in-kind payment. Corporal punishment of
children was prohibited by the law; however, corporal punishment of
children was widespread. Despite the law, a pattern of child abuse existed
in sexual assault, physical abuse, ritual killings, early marriage, FGM/C, child
trafficking, infanticide, and child labor, among other abuses. Police reported
responding to numerous reports of violence against children by persons in
authority, such as teachers in school and guardians in domestic settings. On
July 2, local media reported police arrested a man after he reportedly
burned his son with heated cooking oil as a form of punishment for an
alleged misdeed. The prosecutor charged the man with aggravated torture.

Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age for marriage was
18, but authorities generally did not enforce this law. Child marriages were
prevalent. Local media, human rights activists, political leaders, and police
reported some rural and remote communities in the country forced girls
younger than 18 into marriage. Officials noted some parents married off
girls they could not financially support in return for payments. Children’s
rights activists reported some parents forced child survivors of statutory

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rape to marry their abusers if the child got pregnant. Officials from local
government and police partnered with cultural institutions and civil society
organizations to carry out community sensitization campaigns in rural areas
to speak out against the practice.

Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law prohibited the sale, grooming, or

use of children for commercial sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking.
It set the minimum age for consensual sex at 18. The law defined “statutory
rape” as any sexual contact outside marriage with a child younger than 18
regardless of consent or age of the perpetrator. The government did not
enforce the law effectively, however, and violations were pervasive. Local
media reported numerous cases where abusers recruited children from rural
areas into commercial sexual exploitation under the guise of providing them
legitimate employment opportunities.

Infanticide, Including Infanticide of Children with Disabilities: The law

criminalized infanticide, including of children with disabilities, and
authorities sporadically enforced the law. Local media and LGBTQI+ activists
reported intersex children were at high risk of infanticide and some parents
of children with disabilities abandoned them in the bush or threw them in
pit latrines and left them to die. Police reported an increase in infanticide
cases.

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Antisemitism

The Jewish population numbered approximately 2,000 members centered in

Mbale District in the eastern part of the country. There were no reports of
antisemitic incidents.

Trafficking in Persons

See the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report at

https://www.state.gov/trafficking in-persons-report/.

Forced Organ Harvesting

Police, local media, and activists reported organized criminal groups carried
out organ harvesting, and some workers who signed up with labor
recruitment companies to work in Middle East and Gulf countries had their
organs, especially kidneys and livers, harvested.

Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based

on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or
Sex Characteristics

Criminalization: Consensual same-sex sexual conduct was illegal according

to a colonial-era law that criminalized “carnal knowledge of any person
against the order of nature.” Penalties for same-sex sexual conduct (and a

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multitude of nonsexual activities) were stiffened by the passage and

enactment of the Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) in May, which prescribed
the death penalty for serial offenders and life imprisonment for adult first-
time offenders (three years for minor offenders). The law also criminalized
“promotion of homosexuality,” required persons to report individuals they
suspected of engaging in same-sex relations, and prohibited landlords and
property managers from knowingly renting to persons who violated the act.
LGBTQI+ activists petitioned the Constitutional Court to nullify the AHA. The
Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution issued a circular to
prosecutors instructing them to secure clearance from headquarters before
initiating any prosecutions under the AHA; some provisions of the law were
enforced.

LGBTQI+ activists reported police arrested numerous individuals on the basis

of their sexual orientation or gender identity and subjected many to forced
anal exams, a medically discredited practice with no evidentiary value that
was considered a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and
could amount to torture. LGBTQI+ activists under the umbrella association
Convening for Equality reported 18 instances of forced anal exams by police
between January and August. On August 23, the prosecutor charged a spa
manager in Njeru Magistrate’s Court with homosexuality, promotion of
homosexuality, and knowingly allowing her premises to be used for
homosexuality, with potential sentences of life in prison, 20 years in prison,
and seven years in prison, respectively. Police arrested the accused after
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complaints from the spa’s neighbors, who reported the accused featured
her workers in same-sex pornography video shoots. On August 22,
prosecutors charged Elisha Mukisa, a prominent “ex-gay” activist, and his
partner with homosexuality in breach of the AHA. The prosecution stated
Mukisa lured his partner into same-sex relations and offered him
accommodation in a government-sponsored apartment. Police detained the
men and conducted anal exams on both. The court remanded the two to
prison.

Violence and Harassment: Human rights activists reported numerous

instances of state and nonstate actor violence and harassment against
LGBTQI+ persons and noted authorities did not adequately investigate the
cases. The Strategic Response Team, a coalition of NGOs, reported 306
abuses against LGBTQI+ persons between January and August, with 25 of
those abuses conducted by state actors. The Human Rights Awareness and
Promotion Forum (HRAPF) reported in April a mob in Kampala kidnapped a
transgender woman and stripped her naked. The mob forced her to walk
through the streets as it hurled projectiles at her and recorded videos.
Police arrested her, and the prosecutor charged her with being a public
nuisance before court officials released her on bail; the government took no
action against the perpetrators in this case. The HRAPF reported that in a
limited number of cases police acted against those complicit in violence
against LGBTQI+ persons. The HRAPF reported in June police in Kampala
arrested an unidentified man after he assaulted a transgender woman.
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Discrimination: The law prohibited discrimination based on sex, among

other categories, but did not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.
Provisions of the AHA discriminated against LGBTQI+ persons, for example
by prohibiting landlord or property managers from knowingly renting to
persons who might commit violations of the act and requiring all persons,
including medical personnel, to report LGBTQI+ persons who might commit
violations of the act. The law did not recognize LGBTQI+ individuals,
couples, or their families. LGBTQI+ activists reported LGBTQI+ persons
suffered stigma and faced discrimination in access to health care,
employment, housing, and other social services, and families disowned
LGBTQI+ persons and expelled them from households, which left many
homeless and led others to conceal their sexual orientation.

LGBTQI+ activists reported a sharp rise in evictions of LGBTQI+ persons with

the introduction of the AHA draft bill. The HRAPF and the Uganda Key
Populations Consortium reported responding to 424 cases of eviction and
the need for relocation by September. The HRAPF also reported LGBTQI+
persons were increasingly outed after enactment of the AHA and some were
dismissed from their jobs by their employers. In June, the HRAPF reported
unidentified individuals outed a lesbian by pinning a written notice to her
door and sending one to her employer; she was immediately fired and
forced to seek alternative accommodation after her neighbors threatened
her.
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Availability of Legal Gender Recognition: Legal gender recognition was not

available, and the law did not provide the option of identifying as
“nonbinary/intersex/gender nonconforming.” Transgender persons could
officially change their names, but the law did not provide an option for
changing gender markers on official documents.

Involuntary or Coercive Medical or Psychological Practices: LGBTQI+

activists reported LGBTQI+ persons endured intense social pressure to
change their sexual orientation. The AHA provided for courts to order
persons convicted under its provisions to undergo “rehabilitation,” although
the government did not enforce this provision. Activists reported some
families compelled LGBTQI+ children to undergo talk therapy sessions with
religious leaders intended to change sexual orientation, compelled LGBTQI+
children to “denounce” their sexual orientation and gender identity in
religious gatherings, or compelled their LGBTQI+ children into forced
marriages in an attempt to change their sexual orientation. LGBTQI+
activists reported some public health workers attempted to compel LGBTQI+
persons to change their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression
before providing health services. The Ministry of Health released two
circulars instructing public health workers “not to deny services to any client
who presents themselves for services,” and “not to discriminate or
stigmatize any individual who seeks healthcare for any reason – gender,
religion, tribe, economic or social status or sexual orientation.” Some
government officials openly encouraged attempts to change the sexual
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orientation of LGBTQI+ persons.

There were no reports of surgeries performed on nonconsenting adult

intersex persons.

Restrictions of Freedom of Expression, Association, or Peaceful Assembly:

The government restricted LGBTQI+ organizations’ ability to legally register
and operate. The AHA prohibited operation “of an organization which
promotes or encourages homosexuality or the observance or normalization”
of the same. Prior to the AHA, authorities used provisions of the law to
restrict or deny the registration of LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations due to
allegations the proposed names of the organizations were “undesirable” and
their activities unlawful. The NGO Bureau maintained its 2022 suspension of
NGO Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), citing SMUG’s failure to incorporate
at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau and to register with the NGO
Bureau, despite the courts’ longstanding failure to address SMUG’s appeal
of those two bodies’ refusals to incorporate or to register the nonprofit
organization. LGBTQI+ activists reported police often failed to investigate
attacks on LGBTQI+ advocacy organizations and in September unknown
individuals attacked the premises of Trans Network Uganda, set it on fire,
and stole official documents. Police told LGBTQI+ activists it was
investigating the incident. LGBTQI+ activists reported the NGO Bureau
carried out a disproportionately higher volume of inspections on offices of
LGBTQI+ organizations, during which some NGO Bureau staff threatened to

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shut down the organizations.

Persons with Disabilities

The law criminalized discrimination against persons with physical, sensory,

intellectual, or mental disabilities, but persons with disabilities could not
access education and health services on an equal basis with others. The law
provided for access on an equal basis to education, employment, health
services, information, communications, buildings, transportation, and the
judicial system for persons with disabilities, but the government did not
effectively enforce the law. According to disability rights activists, persons
with disabilities lacked equitable access to public buildings and
transportation. Activists reported many public schools, hospitals, and courts
lacked ramps to enable access for persons with disabilities. Disability rights
activists reported government offices did not always use sign-language
interpreters during official communications and did not provide persons
living with visual disability with written information in alternative formats
such as braille or large format printing while making official
communications.

Human rights activists reported authorities failed to protect persons with

disabilities from harassment and violence from some sections of the
community. Activists reported many police and local government officials
lacked knowledge of the specific needs of persons with disabilities,

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especially persons with mental illness, and many times encouraged and
participated in harassment. Disability activists reported some police officers
arrested persons living with mental illness, accusing them of being a public
nuisance. Activists also reported inadequate and substandard sanitation
facilities for persons with disabilities at public health centers exposed them
to unhygienic conditions and infections. Human rights activists also
reported persons with disabilities experienced discrimination in social
service delivery and employment, while women with disabilities were at
higher risk of rape and sexual harassment than women without disabilities.
In April, activists reported government officials did not fulfil a 10 percent
quota it allocated for persons with disabilities in its poverty alleviation
programs, noting officials prevented persons with disabilities from creating
credit and savings organizations, a prerequisite for accessing credit lines,
and instead directed them to join preexisting organizations. Activists also
reported legal provisions, such as requiring persons with disabilities seeking
electoral office to prove they were of sound mind, discouraged women with
disabilities from seeking electoral office.

Human rights activists reported many parents of children with disabilities in

rural and remote areas hid them from the public and denied them an
education due to public stigma.

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Other Societal Violence or Discrimination

Mob violence was prevalent. Communities often resorted to mob violence

due to a lack of confidence in police and the judiciary to deliver justice.
Mobs often beat, lynched, burned, and otherwise brutalized persons
suspected of robbery, homicide, rape, theft, ritual sacrifice, and witchcraft,
among other offenses. On April 12, local media reported a mob in Kayunga
town lynched a man suspected of theft.

HIV-related stigma and discrimination were a concern in some employment

situations. Police, the prison service, and the military regularly refused to
recruit persons living with HIV and AIDS, claiming their bodies were too
weak for the rigorous training and subsequent deployment. According to
local media, labor export companies required applicants seeking work in
Gulf countries to undergo HIV tests and refused to hire persons living with
HIV and AIDS. Civil society organizations also reported employers declined
to employ persons living with HIV and AIDS as domestic workers.

Section 7. Worker Rights

a. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective

Bargaining

The law provided for workers, except members of the armed forces, to form
and join independent unions, bargain collectively, and conduct legal strikes.
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The Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (Ministry of

Labour) had to register unions before they could engage in collective
bargaining. The law required registration of a labor union be completed
within 90 days and provided the registrar authority to suspend and interdict
a union elected officer if the officer was convicted by a court of law or under
investigation with potential prosecution. The law gave the registrar
authority to cancel a union’s registration if the union’s principal objectives
or constitution became unlawful. The law did not define what constituted
unlawful objectives. The law precluded noncitizens from becoming
members of the executive committee of a trade union. The law gave the
registrar authority to inspect the trade union books of account and
membership.

The law allowed unions to conduct activities without interference,

prohibited antiunion discrimination by employers, and provided for
reinstatement of workers dismissed for union activity. The law also
empowered the minister of labor and labor officers to refer disputes to the
Industrial Court if initial mediation and arbitration attempts failed. The law,
however, gave government labor officers power to declare industrial actions
illegal if a given officer took steps to resolve the labor dispute in question
through conciliation. The NGO Platform for Labor Action (PLA) reported
funding shortfalls in the judiciary prevented recruitment of adequate judicial
officers in the Industrial Court, which delayed resolution of cases.

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The government did not effectively enforce the law. Civil society
organizations stated Ministry of Labour officials did not allocate sufficient
funds to hire, train, and equip labor officers to enforce labor laws
effectively. Employers who violated a worker’s right to form and join a trade
union or bargain collectively faced penalties that were not commensurate
with similar abuses, and penalties were rarely applied against violators.
Administrative and judicial procedures were subject to lengthy delays and
appeals. The PLA reported some companies refused to honor awards
handed down by the Industrial Courts, and workers were forced to incur
additional costs for the proceedings.

The government and employers generally did not respect the

constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of association and collective
bargaining. The law did not provide trade union federations with a right to
engage in collective bargaining and further imposed mandatory conciliation
to resolve labor disputes before a strike action was recognized. The law
gave the government the right to declare a strike illegal, and the minister of
labor had authority to refer a dispute to the Industrial Court. The PLA
reported workers in informal sectors such as domestic work, artisanal
mining, and transport had a weaker right to freedom of association and
lacked the ability to organize collective bargaining measures. The
government restricted some union activity through issuance of threats and
harassment of union leaders, especially of medical workers’ unions. Under
the law, trade unions were required to provide notice and adhere to the
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time limits set for public meetings. Essential service employees were
required to provide 14 to 22 days’ notice of their intent to strike; however,
the law gave the minister authority to nullify the notice by referring the
matter to the Industrial Court for arbitration and settlement within 14 days.

Public health workers’ unions staged strikes during the year, largely
concerning delayed salaries and undelivered promises of salary raises. A
section of senior public health workers referred to as Senior House Officers
called several strikes to protest lengthy delays of more than six months for
payment of allowances. A Ministry of Health official told the health workers
the government did not make provisions for their allowances, but the
workers called off the strike after receiving assurances from the government
it would make the payments.

b. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

See the Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report at

https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/.

c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for

Employment

See the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings/.

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d. Discrimination (see section 6)

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

Wage and Hour Laws: The law technically provided for a national minimum
wage that was much lower than the government’s official poverty income
level. This minimum wage standard was never implemented, and the level
was unchanged since 1984.

The maximum legal workweek was 48 hours, and the maximum workday
was 10 hours. The law provided that the workweek could be extended to 56
hours, including overtime, with the employee’s consent. An employee could
work more than 10 hours in a single day if the average number of hours over
a period of three weeks did not exceed 10 hours per day or 56 hours per
week. For employees who worked beyond 48 hours in a single week, the
law required employers to pay a minimum of 1.5 times the employee’s
normal hourly rate for the overtime hours, and twice the employee’s normal
hourly rate for work on public holidays. According to labor rights
organizations, violations of wage, hour, or overtime laws were common in
the informal sector, particularly in domestic work, agriculture,
manufacturing, and mining.

Occupational Safety and Health: The law established appropriate

occupational safety and health (OSH) standards and regulations for all
workers. The law authorized labor inspectors in the Ministry of Labour’s
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Department of Occupational Safety and Health to access and examine any

workplace unannounced, issue fines, and mediate some labor disputes.
While the law allowed workers to remove themselves from situations
endangering their health or safety without jeopardizing their employment,
legal protection for such workers was ineffective. According to the PLA,
most workers were unaware of their employers’ responsibility to ensure a
safe working environment, and many did not challenge unsafe working
conditions due to fear of losing their jobs.

Wage, Hour, and OSH Enforcement: The Ministry of Labour and local
government labor offices were responsible for enforcement of wage and
hour laws, but the government did not effectively enforce them. Inspection
was insufficient to enforce compliance. In addition to inspectors, labor
officers conducted inspections of worksites and examined standards of
employment and workers’ rights more broadly. Labor officers had the
authority to make unannounced inspections, initiate sanctions, instigate
prosecutions of repeat offenders through the Industrial Court, and close
worksites. With 189 labor officers covering more than 130 districts, the
number of labor officers combined with the 21 labor inspectors was
insufficient for the size of the country’s 15 million workers. Labor officers
often depended on complainants and local civil society organizations to pay
for their travel to inspection sites. PLA officials reported many of the labor
officers were dual-hatted as social workers and did labor-related work only
when a complainant reported an abuse. PLA officials also reported
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companies often did not respect recommendations made by labor officers

during workplace inspections, including providing contracts or protective
wear, or they bribed labor officers to prevent them from issuing penalties.

Authorities rarely enforced labor laws on wages and hours, and penalties
were not commensurate with those for similar abuses. Penalties were
rarely applied against violators. The legal minimum wage was never
implemented, and civil society organizations reported most domestic
employees worked all year without leave. Wage arrears were common in
both the public and private sectors. Workers’ claims for overtime wages
were difficult to enforce as they lacked documentation of their accumulated
hours. PLA officials reported abuses of standard wages and overtime pay
were common in the manufacturing, education, private security, retail,
agriculture, private health care, domestic work, and transport sectors.

The same inspectors conducted wage, hour, and OSH inspections.

Authorities rarely enforced OSH laws, and penalties were not
commensurate with those for similar abuses. Penalties were rarely
enforced against violators. Workers in the mining, construction, and textile
sectors faced hazardous and exploitive working conditions. The PLA
reported abuses of safety and health standards were common in the
manufacturing, education, private security, and transport sectors.

According to 2017 government statistics, the most recent available, the

informal sector employed up to 86 percent of the labor force, primarily in
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agriculture, the service industry, trade, domestic work, construction, and

transport. Labor officials reported labor laws did not effectively protect
workers in the informal economy, including many domestic and agricultural
workers. Live-in domestic workers were at increased risk of poor working
conditions, forced to work longer hours without compensation in homes
during lockdown periods, often not provided with medical care, and subject
to reduced wages.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2023

United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor