By Ezaruku Draku Franklin

The sharp increase of foreign investment in the Ugandan extractive sector has given rise to numerous human rights and environmental abuses, a policy brief by civil society organisations states. The CSOs say their outcry at these violations has in turn exposed the members to recurrent retaliatory measures by state authorities.

The policy brief issued by Avocats Sans Frontières and several other CSOs says a series of attacks against civil society members in connection with oil and gas projects were indeed recorded over the last few years.

“These systematic attacks are symptomatic of a more general shrinking of civic space in Uganda, in the context of increasing securitization, and sometimes militarization of extractive sites,” the policy brief says.

Brigadier General Felix Kulaigye yesterday told this newspaper that he is not aware of the issues raised and would not be drawn into commenting on issues he doesn’t know.

“Have they made a formal complaint to the army? I am not aware of the issues they are talking about and will not comment,” he said.

Robert Kotchani, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Uganda Country Representative in a recent conference said the human rights defenders are increasingly being attacked by security forces and warned government to desist from such attacks. He said Uganda is signatory to a number of international conventions on human rights and that government to be cognizant of its obligations.

Back to the policy brief, it highlights inadequate compensation for compulsorily acquired land, land grabbing, forced displacement, deforestation and other forms of environmental degradation as some of the rights violations registered in the past several years.

The Albertine Graben, rich in oil and gas, has been particularly affected, especially in the context of the Tilenga, King Fisher and EACOP projects, comprising oil exploration, a crude oil processing plant, underground pipelines and infrastructures in Hoima, Kikuube, Buliisa and Nwoya districts.

These projects, operated by among other International Oil Companies (IOC) including Total Energies and CNOOC are criticized for causing adverse impact on PAPs’ property rights and livelihood, as well as for their lack of Project Affected Persons’ effective participation.

The brief says human rights defenders involved in natural resource governance, combined with increased securitization of extractive sites, has a direct effect on PAPs and civil society’s capacity to voice dissenting opinions.

According to the brief, a number of HRDs working with civil society organisations and the community have faced arbitrary and illegal arrests, in relation to their work around natural resource governance.

In May 2021, AFIEGO staff member was arrested in Buliisa District, together with an Italian journalist, as they were about to meet with local community members to discuss the impacts of Total Energies oil project. AFIEGO is one of the CSO engaged in litigation against Total before a French court. The arrested staff, spent the night in police custody and was released 48 hours later with a holding charge of unlawful assembly.

The brief says this is just one among many other recurrent incidents in the oil and gas sector. In Kiryandongo, the police arrested seven lawyers supporting PAPs forcibly evicted in an agribusiness context, in June 2020. The authorities pretexted the Covid-19 pandemic context to charge them with “negligent act likely to spread infection of disease.”

It says arrested persons are often detained over 48 hours, in breach of Article 23(4) (b) of the Constitution of Uganda and that they are often restricted in their access to a lawyer and not informed about the reason for arrest.

“As such, activists’ arrests are not conducted as per due process of criminal law enforcement, but rather serve a purpose of intimidating the civil society from advocating towards good governance of natural resources,” the brief states.

It also says smear campaigns and threats are also used as a tactic to deter civil society from implementing activities geared towards natural resources governance. The brief says government has tried to coin the notion of “economic sabotage” as a way to render illegal acts of oversight on economic governance.

“This not only reveals a structural misconception for the contribution of civic participation to economic governance, but it also serves to guide the action of Law enforcement authorities, who tend to confuse oral instructions with actual Law,” the policy brief says.

According to the brief, even though deprived of any legal ground, perceived acts of economic sabotage are acted upon swiftly by the Police and other security personnel.

“For instance, individuals allegedly associated with Total Energies have spread rumours around the Albertine Graben that the implication of one witness in the above-mentioned French case had caused delays in the payment of compensations, which fed animosity against him within his own community,” the brief says.

The brief says securitization and militarization of the oil-bearing region has raised numerous concerns and that police and several private security firms play a significant and growing presence in the region.

“Reports from local communities and activists confirm the presence of UPDF barracks around the major oil and gas project sites in Buliisa District. More strikingly, the Special Forces Command, “a specialized component of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), tasked with carrying out special missions in support of national military objectives” has reportedly been deployed in the area,” it says.

The brief says while government fronts the need to protect “a fundamental natural resource” due to its strategic importance, the presence of armed forces and private security companies in the area has nurtured a high level of fear within affected communities, who generally remain silent or very cautious when speaking out about either the experienced violence and harassment or the suffered project impacts.

“Incidents of excessive force to ensure communities’ compliance with private companies’ projects have been registered, where UPDF would have allegedly assaulted communities living in the Tilenga and EACOP areas,” the brief says.

Recommendations

The brief recommends in order to build and uphold a conducive environment for both civil society and companies to carry out their activities in Uganda, government must publicly recognize and support civil society’s work in protecting human rights in the context of investment projects, through communication and information campaigns in line with the National Oil and Gas Policy 2008.

They also want government to allow civil society members to freely raise their voice when human rights abuses arising from the implementation of projects, without fear of being subjected to intimidation campaigns and abusive arrests.

“Attorney General to institute the repeal of Uganda’s Public Order Management Act 2013 which is illegal and unconstitutional to bring an end to persistent harassment and intimidation of HRDs, CSOs and people who are simply exercising their rights. The Parliament of Uganda; to fast track the enactment of the Human Rights Defenders, Bill 2020,” it recommends