Uganda petition: demanding the immediate release of six staff members of our partner organisation AFIEGO in custody
To SIGN on to this petition CLICK HERE
23 October 2021 - Yesterday, six staff members of our partner organisation Africa Institute of Energy Governance (AFIEGO), including its director Dickens Kamugisha (1), were arrested in Kampala, Uganda. Afiego is one of four Ugandan organisations involved in several legal cases against the oil project, including the one against TotalEnergies in France and in the East African Court of Justice.
For several months, AFIEGO has been the target of continuous and increasing pressure and intimidation from the Ugandan authorities, who want to prevent it from continuing its activities against Total's mega-oil project, in defence of the affected communities and the environment. The #StopEacop Alliance and the signatories of this petition (see below), including Friends of the Earth France and Survie, call for their immediate release and ask all international French authorities and organisations to take concrete action to help stop the repeated persecution of human rights defenders in Uganda.
The six AFIEGO staff members arrested yesterday are still being detained at Kiira police station in the Ugandan capital and they are set to be transferred to Jinja, the Uganda Police Headquarters. The police are yet to indicate the charges against them. Among those arrested are a breastfeeding mother and a person in need of medical treatment. These arrests follow the initial arrest and subsequent release on bond of several AFIEGO staff members on 13 October 2021. Last May, the #StopEACOP Alliance together with Friends of the Earth France and Survie had already raised the alarm when an AFIEGO staff member was arrested in the oil region while accompanying an Italian journalist.
These new arrests are part of a pattern of harassment and persecution of AFIEGO by the Ugandan authorities. Known for its activities in defence of human rights and the environment, notably against Total's mega-oil project, AFIEGO is one of 54 NGOs whose suspension was announced by the NGO Bureau (2) on 20 August, in a context of increasing repression of civil society. The NGO Bureau has no authority over AFIEGO and there is no legal basis for the suspension, as AFIEGO's lawyers told the NGO Bureau.
In recent weeks, pressure against AFIEGO had intensified significantly:
On 6 October 2021, the police raided AFIEGO's office in Hoima, in the oil region, and arrested a staff member, who was finally released after several hours at the Hoima police station;
On 7 October 2021, the police raided AFIEGO’s office in Buliisa, also in the oil region, ordering it to be closed within in the next two hours, as well as the offices of our partner NAVODA, and the community association ORGHA (Oil and Gas Human Rights Defenders Association). Maxwell Atuhura, the staff member who had been arrested in May, was briefly detained, and a few days later, the association's signposts were vandalised;
On 14 October 2021, the police arrested and held for 30 hours in custody Mugisa Kahero, chairperson of the community-based organization ORGHA, some of whose members are working with AFIEGO to defend the rights of communities affected by the Tilenga oil project, developed by Total. Mugisa Kahero was arrested again on the morning of Tuesday, 19 October, after reporting to the police station as required when he was released on bond a few days earlier. He was then transferred to Masindi prison to await a hypothetical trial date.
Yesterday, on 22 October 2021, in Kyotera district, the police arrested and detained Robert Biriyume, a human rights defender and member of communities affected by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project developed by Total, who is mobilised to defend land rights. He was released on bond, and is charged with "incitement to violence, sabotage of the government program and unlawful illegal assembly".
In a statement released this morning, AFIEGO said: "There is a coordinated effort to silence critical voices that speak out against the destruction of the environment and the abuse of oil project-affected communities’ rights. (...) The arrest of the AFIEGO staff and their partners is aimed at silencing the organisation and other critical voices”. The association also states: "In the letter to the NGO Bureau, AFIEGO promised to take legal action against the bureau if the harassment of AFIEGO and its staff was not stopped”.
In April 2020, four UN Special Rapporteurs had already warned about the situation of human rights defenders in the oil region: "We are further concerned that the harassment of human rights defenders may prevent other Ugandans affected by Total Uganda's oil project from exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression”. UN Special Rapporteurs sent a new letter to the French and Ugandan governments in July 2021, but to date, there has been no response.
Ten days after the release of their new investigation How the French State is playing into Total's hands in Uganda, Friends of the Earth France and Survie call on President Emmanuel Macron, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Ambassador in Kampala to show that they are willing to stand up for human rights by publicly denouncing the repeated arrests and persecution of human rights defenders mobilised against oil projects, and by taking concrete action to help secure the immediate release, without any charge, of AFIEGO staff members.
As civil society organizations from Uganda, East Africa, the African region and the whole world, we demand the following of the Ugandan Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola:
The immediate release of the 6 AFIEGO staff that have been arrested illegally by the Ugandan police.
The bogus charges against some AFIEGO staff members operating without a permit should be dropped.
The Ugandan NGO Bureau should stop causing the arrest and interfering in AFIEGO’s work.
Withdraw the charges against Mr. Robert Biriyume, and release Mr. Mugisa Kahero.
Cease and desist from any further harassment of AFIEGO and CSOs in Uganda.
A public apology issued to the victims of this harassment and their families.
Press Contact Points presse :
#StopEACOP campaign : Omar Elmawi, +254780343432, omar.elmawi@350.org
Survie : Thomas Bart, +33 7 70 06 90 53, thomas.bart@protonmail.com
Amis de la Terre France : Juliette Renaud, +33 6 37 65 56 40, juliette.renaud@amisdelaterre.org
Notes :
Dickens Kamugisha, director of AFIEGO, came to France twice in 2019 as part of the launch of the France legal case against Total. See his TV interview on France 24.
The National NGO Bureau (NGO Bureau) is a semi-autonomous administration under the Ugandan Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to its website, it is supposed to "provide an enabling environment for the empowerment of the NGO sector", and is mandated to "register, regulate, monitor, inspect, coordinate and oversee all NGO operations in the country".
To sign on to this petition CLICK HERE
This petition is endorsed by the following organizations:
#StopEACOP Campaign
350.org
350Africa.org
Action Paysanne Contre la Faim
Actionaid Kenya Activista Laikipia
AFIEGO
Africa Coal Network
Africa Europe Faith & Justice Network
Agir ensemble pour les droits humains
AICED RDC
AIDC
AIETI
AIFE-Uganda
ALCEDO Institute for Cultural and Sustainable Development, Slovenia
Alofa Tuvalu
Alternative Information and Development Centre
Alternative refugee center
Amigas de la Tierra (Spain)
Amigos da Terra Brasil
Amigos de la Tierra Madrid
Amigos de la Tierra México
Amigos de la Tierra Paraguay
Amis de la Terre France/Friends of the Earth France
APRASE - Asociación Profesional de Abogadas y Abogados Saharauis en España
Asociación Americana de Juristas
Asociación Madre Tierra Honduras
Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE)
Attac France
Avaaz
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
BankTrack
Bathi Wrua
Biogas International Ltd
Both ENDS
Buliisa Initiative for Rural Development Organisation (BIRUDO)
Cadre de Cencertation de la société civile de l'Ituri sur les Ressources Naturelles (CdC/RN)
Campaign against Climate Change, UK
Campax
CCFD-Terre Solidaire
CENSAT Amigos de la Tierra Colombia
Center for Environment
Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT)
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Center for Strategic Litigation
centre congolais pour le droit du développement durable, CODED
Centre d'Excellence du Droit de l'Envrionnement-CEDE
Centre for Environmental Justice
Centre for Natural Resource Governance
CESTA Amigos de la tierra El Salvador
Chrétiens Unis pour la Terre
Christian Sports Contact Uganda
Climate Accountability Institute
COAST Scotland
COECOCEIBA
Comisión de Derechos Humanos Hispano Guatemalteca
Commerce Equitable France
Community Resource Centre
Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE)
Connected Advocacy for Empowerment and Youth Development Initiative
Conseil Regiinal des Organisations Non Gouvernementales de Développement
Coordinadora ambiental valles en movimiento, Monte Patria, Chile
CORAP, Coalition des Organisations de la Société Civile pour le Suivi des Réformes et de l’Action Publique
Corporate Europe Observatory
deCOALonize Kenya
Earthlife Africa Jhb
East Midlands & Eastern IWW, UK
Ecologistas en Acción
ELAC
Emuhaya WHRD
Environment Governance Institute
Environmental Rights Action
Extinction Rebellion South Africa
Extinction Rébellion université des Goma
Eziodu Initiative for Sustainable Environmental Development(Eised-NGO)
FHDED, MENDELU
FIDEP foundation Ghana
Fight Inequality Alliance
FoE Brazil
FOE Nepal/ Pro Public
Foundation for Environment and Development (FEDEV) Cameroon
France Amérique Latine
Friends of Lake Turkana (FoLT)
Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific
Friends of the Earth Costa Rica
Friends of the Earth Europe
Friends of the earth Germany (BUND)
Friends of the Earth International
Friends of the Earth Japan
Friends of the Earth Nigeria
Friends of the Earth Switzerland
Friends of ZOKA
Friends with Environment in Development FED
GAIA - Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Gallienne
GLISS
Global Rights
Global Witness
Grassroots Women Initiative Network
Greater Whange Residents Trust
Green Creation
Green Legal Impact Germany e.V.
GreenFaith
Greenfaith Charlotte
GreenFaith International
groundWork
Health of Mother Earth Foundation
Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) South Sudan
Holy Covenant United Church of Christ
Hope 4 All Interfaith Community
Hope Land Congo
ICA Agro SpA
ICID (Iniciativas de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo)
Ilngwesi1- Maiyanat community Land
Inclusive Development International
Innovation pour le Développement et la Protection de l'Environnement
Institutional and Sustainable Development Foundation , Nigeria
IUCN NL
Iuman factor
Ja! Justica Ambiental
Jamaa Resource Initiatives
Jatam, Indonesia
Jobard
Jordens Vänner / Friends of the Earth Sweden
Just Share NPC
Justice Institute Guyana
Justicia Asbl
Kituo Cha Sheria Legal Advice Centre
La Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Desarrollo
Lamu women Alliance
Lamu Youth Alliance
Laudato Si Movement
Laudato Si’ Movement
Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT)
LDCA
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center- Friends of the Earth Philippines
Les Amis de la Terre Togo
Leuser Conservation Forum
Lionel Lee Jr. Center for Wellness
LuandaWHRD
Market Forces
Mgeno wildlife Conservancy, kenya
Micronesia Conservation Trust (MCT)
Migori women with disabilities CBO
Milieudefensie - Friends of the Earth Netherlands
Millennium Community Development Initiatives (MCDI)
moi
Mt Kenya Network Forum
Mulekyo and co
Natural Justice
NC Council of Churches
NGO JEUNES VERTS TOGO
NOAH - Friends of the Earth Denmark
Observatoire d'etudes et d'appui a la responsabilite sociale et environnementale ( OEARSE )
Oil Change International
Oilwatch Africa
ONG FIMA - Chile
Oregon Interfaith Power & Light
PARAN
Peace Centers International, Inc.
Peace Point Development Foundation-PPDF, Nigeria
Power Shift Africa
Practice for Impact
Pro Natura
Publish What You Pay
RAPEN
ReAct Transnational
Real Agency for Community Development
Reclaim Finance
ReCommon
Red de Acción por los Derechos Ambientales RADA
Red Ecofeminista
RedBioLAC
Redes Friends of the Earth Uruguay
Réseau Camerounais des Organisations des Droits de l'Homme / Cameroon Network of Human Rights Organisations
Resource Matters
RFK Human Rights
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia)
Sana Logone
Save Lamu
Save Virunga
SOBREVIVENCIA,
Solidariedade Mocambique
SOS-Forets / UFEM CI
Southern Africa Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power
St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church Green Team
SumOfUs
Survie
The Climate Reality Project, Charlotte Chapter
The Greens Movement of Georgia
Tierra Nativa - Amigos de la Tierra Argentina
Tiwi sunset
TKPT, Indonesia
Tripartite Initiative for Resource Governance in Africa (TiRGA)
U.S. office of the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW)
Unis Pour Le CLimat
Unitarian Universalist Association
Upholding Life And Nature (ULAN)
Urgewald
Vancouver Greenfaith
Waste water managers association
WEMNET
WoGEM
Women for Green Economy Movement Uganda
WoMin African Alliance
World March of Women Kenya
Youth concerns on environment and development (YCED)
Youth For Green Communities (YGC)
Youth4Nature Uganda