By Ritah Kemigisa
The chairperson of the US Senate committee on foreign relations Robert Menendez has petitioned President Joe Biden over human rights abuses in Uganda.
In a March 28th letter, Menendez claims that the government of Uganda’s troubling human rights record has continued despite the several sanctions that have been imposed against some individuals.
He has asked Biden to take ‘meaningful’ actions to respond to the use of torture against civil society activists and political opposition members.
He also demands that president Biden publically sanctions senior Ugandan officials implicated in corruption or gross violation of human rights and provide a list of detention facilities used for illegal detention and torture.
According to Menendez, no person has been held for the crimes committed, and no conclusive reports has been made for the 2016 Kasese killing that left over 100 people dead, November 2020 riots where over 50 people were killed for protesting against the arrest of National Unity Platform (NUP’s) Robert Kyagulanyi during the course of his election campaign.
