From: senaey fethi (senaeyfethi@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun May 09 2010 - 01:50:21 EDT
Uganda's fragile civil society
Concerns are mounting as Uganda replicates Ethiopia's authoritarian approach in the run-up to elections
Mandeep Tiwana
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 8 May 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/08/uganda-ethiopia-election\\\\\\\\
Once viewed as a hopeful place for civil society, Uganda is increasingly becoming a country where expressing democratic dissent carries a heavy price. As the 2011 general elections approach, the legal and political environment for civil society and pro-democracy activists in Uganda has deteriorated to such an extent that it is starting to resemble that of authoritarian Ethiopia, where elections are being held later this month.
In the run-up to the Ethiopian elections planned for 23 May, prime minister Meles Zenawi's administration has virtually left no stone unturned to silence the local media and civil society groups. The motivation for this is the role played by civil society groups in highlighting electoral malpractices in the contentious 2005 elections. At that time, civil society groups mobilised on a large scale to sensitise voters on key governance issues and also managed to document numerous irregularities committed by government agents and supporters before, during and after the elections.
To curtail the ability of civil society to effectively monitor the present elections, the Ethiopian authorities have over the last two years introduced a raft of restrictive measures.
In January last year, the Ethiopian government brought into force the controversial charities and societies proclamation which prohibits local human rights groups from accessing international funding. In a country where domestic sources of funding are scarce, international assistance is the lifeblood of civil society.
If this were not enough, the government introduced an anti-terrorism law in July 2009 with provisions so broad that a peaceful blockade of public services or incidental damage to property during a public protest can be construed as terrorism. Total legislative domination over dissenting voices has been completed through a media law aimed at intimidating publishers from criticising the authorities. Appeals by civil society and pro-democracy elements with regard to the systematic disempowerment of independent groups in Ethiopia have fallen on deaf ears.
Uganda is presently witnessing a spurt in restrictive legislation which has obvious parallels with the situation in Ethiopia. Drawing up of a restrictive media bill in January 2010, earnest implementation of prohibitive NGO regulations since last year and tabling of a draconian anti-homosexuality bill in parliament has raised concerns whether president Yoweri Museveni's administration is "doing an Ethiopia". Close analysis of the above pieces of legislation confirms these fears.
The press and journalist amendment bill made public earlier this year, requires all newspapers to be registered with the Media Council, whose chair is appointed by the government. The council can revoke the licence of a newspaper on wide grounds open to subjective interpretation. For instance, publishing material "prejudicial to national security, stability and unity" or any matter "injurious to Uganda's relations with new neighbours or friendly countries". By this formulation, a newspaper could be shut down for criticising the state visit to Uganda of the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose regime is widely considered undemocratic and guilty of gross electoral malpractices. Ahmadinejad visited Uganda last month on his way home from a state visit to Zimbabwe.
In October last year, the anti-homosexuality bill was introduced in the Ugandan parliament. Although it's a private member's bill, many fear that it is likely to be pushed through, albeit with a few cosmetic changes, by legislators belonging the ruling party. Apart from punishing sexual relations between people of the same sex with life imprisonment, the wide ambit of the bill also calls for closure of any civil society organisation that promotes the rights of the LGBT community. Since most human rights advocacy groups are critical of the widespread homophobia prevalent in Ugandan society, this provision could become a convenient tool to shut down organisations deemed "unsuitable" by the government and also imprison their heads.
Since last year, the Ugandan government has also started enforcing the NGO registration amendment act to practically bind civil society in a stranglehold. NGOs need to re-register every three years and thus face additional bureaucratic hassles when their registration comes up for renewal. NGOs are also required to give seven days' notice to the district administration before visiting rural communities – which hampers fact-finding missions. Contravening any provisions of the NGO Act, operating without a permit or operating contrary to conditions specified in the permit means not only the NGO is liable to a fine but the director or officer whose actions caused the offence to be committed is also personally liable. Moreover, an omnibus provision makes NGOs liable for "all acts" of their "members and employees".
In Ethiopia, restrictive legal provisions have resulted in complete subjugation of independent civil society ahead of this month's scheduled elections. Most human rights groups in compliance with the charities and societies proclamation have had to either suspend their activities or focus solely on service delivery without the liberty to advocate for rights-based policy change.
Last month, the licence of the Ethiopian Bar Association, one of the few remaining independent civil society groups was suspended on a procedural irregularity. The bank accounts of the Human Rights Council and the Ethiopian Women's Lawyers Association have been blocked for violating the charities and societies proclamation's restriction on receipt of foreign funds.
Media groups have also been targeted. A number of independent journalists have left the country in fear of reprisals by government agents. In December 2009, a prominent independent newspaper, the Addis Neger, shut down after its staff received death threats for exposing government corruption.
Last month, two journalists employed with the state-owned radio and television agency were arrested on charges of misappropriation of government property. It is widely believed that their arrests are part of a strategy of total control of the airwaves to put government loyalists in key editorial positions.
The warning signals emanating from Ethiopia are plenty, with deep portents for the next year's elections in Uganda. With civil society in both these countries effectively marginalised, it is up to the international community to act on these signs.
The governments in Ethiopia and Uganda have largely escaped open international censure because their role in maintaining peace and security, as well as the balance of power, in the volatile Horn of Africa is deemed crucial by western democracies. Nonetheless, geopolitical and strategic considerations ought not to obstruct positive diplomacy to address blatant violations of human and democratic rights. It is time the international community took proper notice that Ethiopian and Ugandan people are systematically robbed of fundamental freedoms by their governments.
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