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U.K. Lawmaker calls on British Foreign Secretary to Intervene in Uganda’s Apaa/UN Crisis

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Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Photo–Flickr.

A Ugandan Member of Parliament has called on the country’s dictator of 32 years to order his army to halt deadly illegal evictions of rural farmers, while also praising a call by a British lawmaker for action by the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Britain provides Uganda with more than $100 million in annual foreign aid assistance.

Since July 11 more than 340 villagers — including 34 children– from a lush fertile area known as Apaa, in the northern part of Uganda, have been holed up in the compound of the field offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the city of Gulu.

They were granted temporary sanctuary after they fled violent attacks from Uganda’s military, the police, and armed Wildlife Authority agents. An estimated 800 homes have been torched, properties stolen, and crops destroyed in the concerted human rights abuses amounting to ethnic cleansing.

The ongoing attacks by the regime, in defiance of a 2012 High Court order staying all evictions, have already killed at least a dozen people. Scores are missing and many others have been injured.

The area in Apaa is about 25 square miles and the regime has been trying to oust 15,000 people, literally turning them homeless and destitute.

Land-grabbing by the political and military elite, who forcefully evict powerless people from their land and then lease them off to rich foreign individuals or corporations is a widespread if underreported crises in Africa. Critics have described the onslaught as the “new Scramble for Africa” where corrupt regimes in league with foreign interests, act like some of the African leaders who did not defend their sovereignty during the 19th century imperial conquest.

Uganda under Gen. Yoweri Museveni, is a prime example today.

According to an aide to Paul Williams, a U.K. MP, the lawmaker wrote to the British Foreign Secretary to inquire on “what representations he has made to the Government of Uganda on behalf of the thousands of people of Apaa village in Amuru/Adjumani District who have been, and are still being, forcibly evicted from their land by the Ugandan Army, Police and Wildlife Authority, who claim that they are inhabiting a game reserve?”

MP Williams also wanted to know whether the Foreign Secretary had “been in contact with the UN Human Rights Offices in Gulu, Northern Uganda, where 250 internally displaced people are currently camped, and will he make representations to the Ugandan Government on behalf of these displaced people?”

“I do appreciate Dr. Paul William so much for asking specific and meaningful questions to the minister. It will open the eyes of many people who may not be aware about what is happening in Uganda. I thank him for that,” Gilbert Olanya, a Ugandan MP whose constituency, Kilak South, includes the area of the violent land-grab, said.

Olanya said the country’s ruler, Museveni, “should stop pretending, he should order the soldiers to stop terrorizing the civilians, since he is aware fully of what is going on.”

“The soldiers should be withdrawn from Apaa and people go back to their homes,” he added.

Locals believe the Ugandan regime wants to lease the land to foreign commercial farmers and to a South African who wants to build hunting preserves. “Let the government stop the idea of giving people’s land to the South African investor called Bruce Martin,” Olanya said, referring to the South African allegedly trying to acquire the land.

Since last week the crises gained more global coverage and the Office of the outgoing High Commissioner finally broke its silence and commented amid emerging reports of fears of the cholera outbreak as a result of overflowing outside latrines, and shortage of food and medication.

The Geneva offices of the OHCHR in a statement said officials were working with representatives of the Apaa refugees and the regime to resolve the matter.

The refugees have said the fear being killed by the military should they return to Apaa.

The Member of Parliament, Olanya, described conditions on the U.N. compound: “The conditions at the UN premises is not good, sanitation not very OK, people are contributing food items like posho beans among others. Yesterday a team from Soroti brought some food and youth from Amuru town council. The major problem now is the firewood for cooking.”

Critics accuse the Museveni regime of arming civilians in adjoining areas inhabited by ethnic Madis and promoting violence between them and Acholis who live on the land in Apaa eyed by the regime. A Ugandan deputy prime minister, Gen. Moses Ali — who was once as senior official under Gen. Idi Amin– has taken the lead in promoting the conflict, according to local media reports.

“The problem in Apaa is the issue between Acholi and the government of Uganda not between Madi and Acholi as some people are saying,” Olanya added, calling for action against those behind the violence.

“Moses Ali and the team must be brought to book and those who killed Apaa community be arrested…”

Olanya said another disaster was looming since the people who fled to safety in the U.N.’s premises aren’t able to now tend to their farms.

“Since this is the time for cultivation, I guess these people shall suffer in the next season, since they are not cultivating. Government should be ready to provide relief assistant to them for a year, starting immediately when they go back home.”

Apaa Petition
https://www.change.org/p/prince-zeid-ra-ad-al-hussein-prince-zeid-un-hum…

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WITNESS RADIO MILESTONES

Uganda: Land-grab victim communities will join counterparts in commemorating the 2024 International Day of Struggle Against Industrial Plantations.

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By Witness Radio team.

On September 21, 2024, land-grabs communities under their group, the Informal Alliance for communities affected by irresponsible land-based investments in Uganda for the first will join fellow victims in commemorating the International Day of Struggle Against Industrial Plantations, highlighting the growing threat posed by large-scale monoculture plantations.

These industrial plantations have led to the forced eviction of millions of people across Uganda, displacing indigenous communities and stripping them of their land rights and livelihoods. Driven by multinational companies and government-backed investors, with the support of government and private security entities, these evictions prioritize profits over people.

Among the many Ugandan communities still suffering the devastating impact of monoculture plantations are over 30,000 people who were violently displaced from the Namwasa and Luwunga forest reserves between 2006 and 2010 to make way for the New Forests Company’s pine and eucalyptus plantations. In addition, thousands of local and indigenous communities were illegally evicted to make way for palm oil plantations in Kalangala district. Nearly 4,000 people had their land grabbed by the Formosa tree planting company in the Mubende district, and over 35,000 were displaced in Kiryandongo to make way for industrial agriculture to grow maize, soybean, and sugarcane plantations, among others. These and other affected communities united and formed the Informal Alliance for Victims affected by irresponsible land-based investments to defend their rights in early 2019.

The International Day of Struggle Against Industrial Plantations was first celebrated on September 21, 2004, during a community network meeting fighting against industrial tree plantations in Brazil. Since then, it has become a day when organizations, communities, and movements worldwide come together to celebrate resistance and raise their voices, demanding an end to the relentless expansion of industrial tree plantations.

In Uganda, on Saturday, September 21, the 2024 commemoration will start with a radio program in a local dilect (Luganda) purposely to highlight weird experiences faced by communities displaced by large-scale monoculture plantations, struggles for justice, and holding companies and financiers accountable. A one-hour radio program starting at 10 a.m. EAT will feature leaders of the loose alliance. Listen to the radio program on Witness Radio platforms on the website www.witnessradio.org or download the Witness Radio App on playstore.

Later, land-grab victims in Uganda will join their colleagues from Africa and other countries around the globe in a webinar meeting aimed at fostering organizations’ and rural communities’ connection across member countries and communities to build confidence, share experiences, strengthen our campaign to reignite hopes and forge a bond of understanding between the Informal Alliance and victim communities shattered by destructive plantations as well as deterring future plantations expansion.

The Webinar will start at 3PM EAT and will be aired live on Witness Radio platforms on the website www.witnessradio.org or download the Witness Radio App on playstore.

Please note: Both the radio show and Webinar will be live on Witness Radio on www.witnessradio.org or download the witness radio app on playstore to listen live.

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WITNESS RADIO MILESTONES

Uganda: CSOs claim Agilis Partners forcibly evicting local communities to pave way for agribusiness; company did not respond

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Witness Radio and its partners have alleged that thousands of people from local and Indigenous communities have been forcefully evicted from their land to make way for Agilis Partners Limited’s large-scale farming operations, in violation of international human rights law.

They have raised concerns about severe human rights abuses including forced evictions and lack of prompt, fair, and adequate compensation; violations of Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent; abduction, arrest, torture, and judicial harassment of human rights defenders, and alleged sexual violence against women and girls, as well as other negative social and environmental impacts.

Witness Radio and its partners representing PAPs have written to Agilis Partners on several occasions seeking a dialogue between the company and people who have been harmed however, the company has not responded to their communications.

In a letter to Agilis Partners in June 2024, 36 civil society organizations called on Agilis Partners and its financial backers to take immediate action to stop the human rights abuses and harassment committed against community members, engage in dialogue with the communities, and restore the lands to the people that have been displaced.

We invited Agilis Partners to respond to the letter, the company did not respond.

Company Responses

Agilis Partners. No Response.

Source: business-humanrights.org

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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Breaking: Witness Radio and Partners to Launch Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation, and Advocacy Project Tomorrow.

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By Witness Radio Team.

Witness Radio, in collaboration with Dan Church Aid (DCA) and the National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders (NCHRD), is set to launch the Monitoring, Documentation, and Advocacy for Human Rights in Uganda (MDA-HRU) project tomorrow, 22nd February 2024, at Kabalega Resort Hotel in Hoima District.

The project, funded by the European Union, aims to promote the protection and respect for human rights, and enable access to remedy where violations occur especially in the Mid-Western and Karamoja sub-regions where private sector actors are increasingly involved in land-based investments (LBIs) through improved documentation, and evidence-based advocacy.

The three-year project, which commenced in October 2023, focuses its activities in the Mid-Western sub-region, covering Bulisa, Hoima, Masindi, Kiryandongo, Kikuube, Kagadi, Kibale, and Mubende districts, and Karamoja sub-region, covering Moroto, Napak, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Nabilatuk, Abim, Kaabong, Kotido, and Karenga districts.

The project targets individuals and groups at high risk of human rights violations, including Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Land and Environmental Defenders (LEDs). It also engages government duty bearers such as policymakers and implementers in relevant ministries and local governments, recognizing their crucial role in securing land and environmental rights. Additionally, the project involves officials from institutional duty bearers including the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Equal Opportunities Commission, and courts, among others.

Representatives from the international community, faith leaders, and business actors are also included in the project’s scope, particularly those involved in land-based investments (LBIs) impacting the environment.

The project was initially launched in Moroto for the Karamoja region on the 19th of this month with the leadership of the National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders (NCHRD).

According to the project implementors,  the action is organized into four activity packages aimed at; enhancing the capacity and skills of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Land and Environmental Defenders (LEDs) in monitoring, documentation, reporting (MDR), and protection, establishing and reinforcing reporting and documentation mechanisms for advocacy and demand for corporate and government accountability;  providing response and support to HRDs and marginalized communities; and lastly facilitating collaboration and multi-stakeholder engagements that link local and national issues to national and international frameworks and spaces.

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