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| Panelists at the launch event discuss the status of freedom of expression in East Africa. From left to right: Professor John Jean Barya, Makerere University School of Law; Adv. Deogratias Bwire, THRDC (Tanzania); Ms. Faith Kaukundakwe, Makerere University, Mr.James Nkuubi, NETPIL member, and Mr. Arthur Nsereko, NETPIL. |
Over the past decade, freedom of
expression, access to the internet, and the media have generally been respected
across East Africa, particularly in Uganda and Tanzania. However, since
2018, several
new laws have been introduced in Uganda and Tanzania that infringe on
fundamental freedoms, triggering a reversal in a trend to observe the right to
free speech, association, and civic space. State-sponsored actions,
increasingly restrictive policies and legislation, internet shutdowns, and media
censorship have driven this recent reversal. The state communications agency,
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), has gradually extended its reach
through administrative actions to force broadcast media into submission and
self-censorship. In the past, the UCC, has also closed radio stations, forced
employers to suspend staff, warned different media houses against breach of
minimum broadcasting standards, and engaged in other restrictive activity.
Government restrictions have also threatened freedom of expression in Tanzania.
In September 2018, the Tanzanian Parliament passed amendments to the national
statistics law, which included a provision for criminal penalties for any
entity that publishes information that does not comply with the National Bureau
of Statistics methodology or that challenges official statistics.
According to the Media Council of
Tanzania (MCT), in January-October 2018, 27 journalists were subjected to
intimidation, threats, and attacks at the hands of Police officers with no
sanctions in Tanzania. These have been compounded by the detention and
deportation of Dr. Wairagala Wakabi, the Executive Director, of the
Uganda-based Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern
Africa (CIPESA) in Tanzania.
Despite existing Constitutional
guarantees—freedom of expression and Assembly—civic space and the respect for
human rights is progressively diminishing in Uganda. This is accompanied by a
rapid decline in the rule of law and a rise in impunity throughout the country.
According to the Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ-U) Press Freedom
Index Report 2018, 163 cases of abuses and rights violations were reported
against journalists with 35 being arbitrary arrests and detention.
This clampdown on
freedom of expression in East Africa is linked to other infringements of rights
such as on the freedom of association, political participation and civic space.
In Uganda, governments have used laws to crack down on the operations of civil
society organizations (especially those that work on human rights), restrict
media freedom, stifle political dissent, de-legitimize protests, and undermine
judicial independence. The above trends show no sign of slowing down.
As the shrinking of space for freedom
of expression and assembly continue throughout the region, what role can
lawyers, civil society, human rights advocates, and organizations play in
ensuring the protection of these basic freedoms? To answer this question, ABA
ROLI on February 21, 2020, launched its new regional project “Promoting and
Protecting Freedom of Expression in East Africa.” The launch coincided with an inaugural public lecture entitled The State of Freedom of Expression in East
Africa: The Shrinking Space to Exercise the Right to Freedom of Expression and
Assembly in Uganda and Tanzania. The event, held on the Makerere University
campus, functioned as a platform for knowledge sharing about the current laws
and practices affecting freedom of expression in Uganda and Tanzania. Professor
John Jean Barya from the School of Law, Makerere University delivered a
critical overview in his keynote address entitled, Interrogating the Right to Freedom of Expression and Assembly: Emerging
issues in East Africa. This was followed by commentary on litigating
freedom of expression cases at the regional level, in particular, the
opportunities and challenges for litigating before the East African Court of
Justice and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These remarks were
complemented by a presentation on the situation in Tanzania and the plight of
human rights defenders in the current context of closing civic space. Finally,
the voice of the student movement at Makerere University was represented by a
second year law student echoing the severe challenges to freedom of expression
on student affairs at the university and the excessive use of force by State
security forces. Panelists were drawn from ABA ROLI’s partners, Makerere
University, the Network of Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL) and the Tanzanian
Human Rights Defenders Coalition (THRDC).
The public lecture was organized in partnership with ABA
ROLI, and the Network of Public Interest Lawyers and the East African Network
of University Clinics in Uganda. The event represents the launch of a new
regional project to protect freedom of expression in East Africa, which will
run through July 2021. The overall goal of the project is to promote and
protect freedom of expression and assembly in the region with a focus on Uganda
and Tanzania. The project will be implemented by a number of partners
including: the Network for Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL), the East African
Network of University Clinics (EANULAC), Media Institute of Southern
Africa-Tanzania (MISATAN), Tanzania Human Rights Defenders (THRDC), the
Pan-African Lawyers Union (PALU), and the International Center for Not-Profit
Law (ICNL). The consortium members will employ an array of strategies including
strategic litigation, the provision of direct legal services and emergency
assistance to human rights defenders or others whose basic rights have been
violated. In addition, the consortium will support consistent advocacy and
research to promote legal and policy reforms in favor of greater FOE
protections.
Learn more about ABA ROLI's work in Africa here.
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