By Witness Radio and Südnordfunk teams
Hundreds of community defenders and activists advocating for environmental justice in Uganda are bearing the brunt of defending community lands and the environment. Several have been often criminalized, tortured, abducted, and charged with unscrupulous offenses for opposing harmful investments damaging the environment in Uganda.
Those against the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), have recently become witnesses to escalating violence. Thicis year alone, over 90 activists have been arrested for opposing the project. In August, Global Witness reported that at least 96 people had been detained in the past nine months, highlighting the increasing repression faced by environmental and human rights defenders who stand against the pipeline and its impacts.
Witness Radio, in collaboration with its partner Südnordfunk, spoke with EACOP activists Bob Barigye and Richard Senkondo, along with legal counsels Kato Tumusiime and Aryampa Brighton, who provide legal support to both activists and communities impacted by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
In this podcast, the activists discuss the ongoing resistance to EACOP and highlight how they are being criminalized simply for raising awareness about the project’s harmful impacts. The lawyers also share, the difficulties they face in offering legal support to affected communities and activists, further re-echoing that opposing this mega project has essentially become a crime.
Listen to the podcast here.
