Uganda Presents Human Rights Report

The Attorney General, Hon. Freddie Ruhindi has presented Uganda’s 5^th Periodic Report to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) meeting in the Gambian capital Banjul.

The Attorney General also made responses to various questions posed to the country, covering aspects that members of the Commission felt needed more clarity.

Hon. Lucy Asuagbor, the Commissioner responsible for overseeing issues in Uganda applauded the country for the comprehensive and detailed report as well as the candid responses by the Minister. “Uganda can now be counted among those countries that are up to date in their treaty obligations” she said.

Member Countries are expected to make regular presentations to the Commission in compliance with Article 62 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Uganda last presented its report (the 4^th Periodic Country Report) in 2010, at another meeting held in the Gambia.

The 5^th Report had long been overdue for presentation and was deferred first because Uganda wasn’t ready and later because of the postponement of the 56^th Ordinary Session owing to concerns surrounding the scourge of Ebola in some countries of West Africa.

The country report was compiled using input from across all ministries, departments and agencies of Government and is structured in three main parts: The first contains information and statistics on the general state of the country, namely the status of the population, the economy and the conditions of social services.

The second part outlines the legal and administrative measures the government has adopted in order to implement the requirements of the Charter since its last report in 2010. These interventions are arranged to correspond to each article of the Charter.

The last and final part of the report contains challenges that Government continues to face as it strives to implement the provisions of the Charter.

The 56^th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR is meeting in the Gambian capital, Banjul from 21^st April – 7^th May, 2015 with Uganda presenting her report and responding to questions from 27^th – 28^th April.