At least 18 journalists were heavily attacked by security forces, covering legislative elections in Kawenpe North, a northern neighbour of the capital Kampala. The Borderless Reporter (RSF) strongly condemns these aggressive attacks and asks authorities to ensure the safety of journalists.
“They took off our shirts to cover our eyes and told us to lie down and hit the top of the stick and gun,” Abubaker Lubowa, a photojournalist for an independent daily monitor, told RSF. At least 13 journalists were sent to cover the by-elections in northern Kawenpe, the northern district of Kampala, on March 13, and were badly beaten by Ugandan security forces, including the Ugandan National Defense Force (UPDF) and the Joint Anti-Terrorist Task Force (JATT). Five other journalists were also assaulted three weeks ago while covering the campaign, one of them almost lost sight in their left eye. Everything was identifiable as a journalist at the time of the attack.
Faced with the magnitude of the shocking violence committed by its members, the UPDF announced a press conference on March 13th that it would be attacked, with the result being “guiding measures to be implemented, including a disciplinary process.” When contacted by RSF, UPDF spokesman Chris Magezi said the violence was the result of “misunderstanding and misunderstanding” and “journalists must have been confused with violent supporters.” He also supported the idea of providing UPDF members with more training on how to protect journalists during such events.
“The extreme violence manifested by clearly identified law and order forces against journalists confirms that there are serious safety issues faced by media experts. Such treatment is due to both the Army and anti-terrorist agencies during election periods. The perpetrators of these attacks train their members to protect journalists.”
Sadiebow Maron
Deterioration treatment
At least six journalists were attacked and detained in an Army van for more than an hour when the candidate arrived at the Angola polling station on March 13th. Among them were Raymond Tamale, a journalist for a privately owned NTV Uganda TV station, and photographers Dennis Kabugo and Abubaker Bois. “They told us to lie down in the van and then pretend to fall asleep. They counted us to 15 and hit us with each number. The windows were covered, it was very hot, you couldn’t see anything,” explained Raymond Tamale. All the equipment was destroyed and all journalists had to undergo medical treatment in hospitals.
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Journalist Ibrahim Luweza and New Vision’s Isaac Nwagaba were blinded in the van for 20 minutes by masked members of the Ugandan security agency’s Joint Terrorist Task Force (JATT).
At least 13 journalists were badly beaten that day, at least 10 of them went to the hospital. Several reporters who witnessed the violence chose to stop reporting and returned to the newsroom, but others took off their press vests to avoid being targeted.
Super Violence Campaign
On February 26th, privately owned top television journalist Mirakula Ibra barely lost his vision with one eye, covering the attacks of opposition candidates by security forces in the preliminary stages of the election. According to a severely injured journalist, two Jatt officers “slammed him into the face several times in a tranche.” At least four reporters from NBS TV and NTV Uganda were attacked while covering the election campaign. Two of them were assaulted by Jatt officers who fired several shots in their direction.
