Uganda declines to renew UN Human Rights Office mandate 

The government has indicated it will not renew the mandate of the United Nations human rights office in the country, citing the development of its own sufficient capacity to monitor rights compliance. 

In a letter by ministry of Foreign Affairs sent to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on February 3, the ministry noted progress Uganda had made in developing a domestic capacity to monitor rights as the main reason for its decision.

“The ministry wishes to convey the government’s decision not to renew the mandate of the OHCHR Country office in Uganda beyond the current term,” said the letter.

OHCHR Uganda country office spokesperson Bernard Amwine told Reuters he had no comment. OHCHR had on January 4, 2023, sent to Uganda’s permanent mission at the United Nations Office in Geneva an application for the renewal of the host agreement. 

But the ministry of Foreign Affairs says that given the strong government commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, the prevailing peace throughout the country, coupled with strong national human rights institutions and a vibrant civil society — with the capacity to monitor the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the country, it is not necessary to renew the mandate beyond the current term. 

President Yoweri Museveni’s government has over the years been criticized by the opposition, human rights activists and Western countries for various rights violations including torture, illegal detentions and extrajudicial killings of opponents and critics.

Officials have denied almost all of the accusations and said all security forces implicated in rights abuses have been duly punished.

Museveni, 78, who came to power after a five-year guerrilla war, has ruled Uganda since 1986 and the opposition and critics have accused him of grooming his son, a general in the country’s military, to take over from him. Museveni has repeatedly denied doing so.

The OHCHR Uganda office was established in 2006 and was initially allowed to focus only on human rights issues in conflict-plagued areas in Uganda’s north and northeast, according to the Uganda government. It was later allowed to cover the rest of the country.

In the letter, the ministry said the government had since gained enough commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights and that there was “peace throughout the country, coupled with strong national human rights institutions and a vibrant civil society.”

Uganda’s next election is in 2026 and Museveni is widely expected to seek another term, although he has not indicated if he will stand.