Uganda: Military Seizing Government Critics
Human Rights Watch reports that the Ugandan military is increasingly targeting government critics, journalists, and opposition figures through arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention. The organization calls for an end to these practices, citing violations of the Ugandan Constitution and fundamental human rights.
Why it matters
The report highlights a significant deterioration of democratic norms and civil liberties in Uganda under the current administration.
Targeting Opposition Figures, Journalists; Violating Fundamental Rights
(Nairobi) – Uganda ’s military is arbitrarily seizing government critics, holding them incommunicado, then handing them over for bogus prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said today. These actions are an apparent effort to silence and curtail all opposition and the independent media.
Since mid-June 2026, security forces have unlawfully seized at least five critics of President Yoweri Museveni and his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). The army has also raided and is laying siege to the country’s largest independent media company, forcing it to cease operations because of negative coverage of the president.
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