FIDH and OMCT release a publication

FIDH and OMCT release a publication - On 19th December 2013, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in a joint programme with World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), called upon the Ugandan Constitutional Court to repeal the Public Order Management Act, which restricts freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly and further deteriorates an already shrinking space for civil society and human rights defenders in the country.

Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) noted, “Whereas it is important to ensure law and order during protests, the POM Act seems to be intended to stifle freedoms of association and expression and thereby to undermine civil society working space by setting very difficult conditions to hold public meetings, demonstrations and any form of gathering in public places …..The Constitutional Court of Uganda should therefore repeal it immediately as unconstitutional.”

Karim Lahidji, President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) further observed, “The law (POMA) clearly contravenes international and regional standards, including Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and also violates Article 29 of the Ugandan Constitution that promotes and protects the rights to freedom of expression and association. Indeed, instead of giving powers to the police to protect the enjoyment of freedoms, this new law empowers the police to restrict the enjoyment of rights.”

Details of that publication can be viewed here: https://www.fidh.org/International-Federation-for-Human-Rights/Africa/ug...