The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, calls for the immediate release of Ugandan lawyer Eron Kiiza, who was condemned to a nine month jail sentence summarily passed by Uganda’s military court martial.
Kiiza is one of the defence Counsels in the contested military trial of civilian opposition politicians, Kiiza Besigye and his assistant – Obeid Lutale. The two were abducted from neighboring Kenya on 16 November 2024, by unidentified Ugandan armed security operatives who held them incommunicado for four days before being arraigned and charged in a Kampala military court which has since remanded them. They were charged with possession of firearms – two pistols and ammunition – at the time of their arrest and soliciting military support overseas supposedly to destabilise national security. These charges were escalated on 13 January 2025, by inclusion of a new charge of treachery which attracts a death sentence on conviction.
Kiiza’s arrest and detention on 7 January 2025, followed his physical obstruction by military personnel from accessing the court’s section for defendants’ lawyers, where he was expected to address the military court in the resumed proceedings against their clients. A video recording of the incident reveals that as Kiiza protested his obstruction – by shouting and banging on the courtroom barricade – soldiers, led by the Judge Advocate of the military Court, violently assaulted and removed him from the courtroom.
The sentence against Mr Kiiza was issued in a two-minute trial without the minimum standards of a fair trial process; the charges were not read to him, he was not afforded an opportunity to defend himself, reportedly tortured, and his lawyers have not been issued with a formal ruling to pursue an appeal.
Reports coming in from Uganda also indicate that civilians and lawyers attending hearings in political cases before the General Court Martial are traditionally subjected to intimidation and different forms of harassment, including withdrawal of gadgets and invasive searches after long hours of waiting before being permitted to access the Court.
As it has been noted, the pattern of intimidation and interference which has been cited in several other instances in Uganda, violates the internationally recognised rights of lawyers in the performance of their professional duties.
We join other actors who expressed solidarity with and have called on the authorities in Uganda to reverse the sentence against Eron Kiiza. We also call on the authorities to desist from subjecting civilians to politically motivated military trials, to observe fair trial standards and to stop the alleged ill treatment of civilians and lawyers attending proceedings before independent courts and tribunals.
Centre for Human Rights
Faculty of Law
University of Pretoria
www.chr.up.ac.za