There was drama during a session of the United Nations (UN) Committee against Torture (CAT) in Geneva, Switzerland after angry Ugandan women stormed the meeting and protested a speech by the country’s Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka.
The UN Committee against Torture’s session, the seventy-fifth session of its kind, began on October 31, 2022 and will run until November 25, 2022. The session is reviewing efforts by Australia, Chad, El Salvador, Malawi, Somalia and Uganda to implement the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
AG Kiryowa Kiwanuka defended Uganda’s human rights record, claiming the President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni-led government does not condone torture and that it does not illegally detain or even kill political critics. The AG also said the Museveni state does not run safe houses.
But as the Ugandan Attorney General concluded his defence of the country’s human rights record at the UN-CAT in Geneva, a group of about five fearless women stormed the session. They protested the contents of Kiwanuka’s speech, saying it was full of lies, and the AG should tell the world the ugly truth about Kampala’s human rights situation.
Donning t-shirts and other clothes emblazoned with photos of people that have allegedly been tortured or killed by the Museveni state, the women entered the session hall as they shouted that Uganda was bleeding and that Mr Kiwanuka, a very seasoned Ugandan lawyer who joined Museveni’s cabinet in June 2021, was a liar.
For around two minutes, the Ugandan female protesters disrupted the UN CAT session, leaving members of the committee with no option but to wait and see how the attack against Attorney General Kiwanuka would end. Meanwhile, the media team at the UN muted the audio of the protesters and their voices could not be heard.
The protest lasted for about two minutes as members of the committee looked on in disbelief, the protest audio was muted by the UN and later called security to escort them out of the committee session.
— Remmy Bahati (@BahatiRemmy) November 10, 2022
This is not the first time a Museveni minister or member of cabinet is being attacked at a forum outside Uganda. A few weeks ago, Presidency Minister and the King of Busoga survived being beaten up by a pro-Bobi Wine NUP supporter in Canada. The protester was arrested and later released.
The women were then handed over to the Swiss Police who quizzed them over their protests. The Swiss Police has since set the five women free. No charge was slapped against these female protesters.
Credit: Pearl Times