Uganda’s candidature at the UN General Assembly provides an opportunity for the country to address its human rights challenges.
The Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative Livingstone Ssewanyana says Uganda assuming the presidency at the Assembly will be an opportunity for the world to press harder and ensure the country adopts reforms that support the respect of human rights.
This follows reports that some US senators and lobby groups are mounting pressure on Western powers to block Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa from becoming president of the Assembly on grounds of his conduct and the country’s poor human rights record.
Ssewanyana says there have been shortcomings in Uganda’s Human Rights records on several fronts including how suspects are treated and the government’s intolerance to dissenting views.
He says the country’s restrictive laws such as the Public order management law blemish its human rights record.
