[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 21, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2657-S2658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ELECTIONS IN UGANDA

  Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise today to express my serious 
concern about the recent presidential elections in Uganda. Uganda is a 
country of great promise; in the past year I and many of my colleagues 
have come to this floor to praise the Ugandan Government and the 
Ugandan people for their energetic and effective fight against the AIDS 
pandemic. In recent years, the economy has enjoyed moderate economic 
growth. Most strikingly, even given the persistence of brutality like 
that embodied by the Lord's Resistance Army, there can be no mistaking 
that Uganda has come a long way from the dark days when Idi Amin and 
Milton Obote terrorized their citizens. This progress toward stability 
and an improvement in the quality of life enjoyed by Ugandans has been 
cause for celebration, and legitimately so.
  But the latest trends from Uganda are alarming. In particular, the 
days leading up to the March 12 presidential elections revealed a 
disturbing willingness on the part of the ruling party to retain power 
through intimidation. According to observers, the opposition was 
threatened with violence and arrests from state security forces 
throughout the campaign. Reports indicate that, in some cases, 
opposition supporters also resorted to violent tactics. While most 
observers agree that outcome of the vote would probably not have been 
different had the election not been marred in this manner, there can be 
no question that Uganda has been proven to be less democratic and less 
stable by these recent events, and the security of individual Ugandans 
wishing to exercise basic civil and political rights is not assured.
  It is unquestionably true that many positive developments have 
unfolded in Uganda over the years that President Museveni has been in 
office. But Uganda's success is not about Mr. Museveni. Institutions, 
not individuals, are the backbone of lasting political stability and 
development. And the movement system currently in effect in Uganda, 
always dubious, increasingly looks like a single-party system by 
another name. Its defenders will point to last year's referendum on 
this so-called ``no-party'' system and claim that it is the will of the 
people. But the deck was clearly stacked against multipartyism in last 
year's referendum on the movement system--state-sponsored political 
education courses were used to mobilize support for the Movement, and 
the opposition boycotted the vote.
  Today, in the wake of the presidential election and after long months 
of Uganda's involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo--an 
adventure that, while perhaps profitable for the few, is clearly 
unpopular with the Ugandan people--today, those of us who genuinely 
wish to see Uganda consolidate the successes of the past and make even 
more progress in the years ahead are profoundly troubled.
  Some in Central Africa believe that the U.S. turns a blind eye to the 
shortcomings of the government in Kampala. I certainly hope that is not 
the

[[Page S2658]]

case, because that is not in the interests of the U.S. or the Ugandan 
people. I have recently had cause to reflect on the damage done by 
years of U.S. support for undemocratic and sometimes violently 
repressive regimes elsewhere on the continent. We do no one any favors 
when we fail to tell it like it is, when we look away from blatantly 
undemocratic acts because we so desperately want to encourage countries 
that hold great promise. It is precisely because Uganda has made such 
precious gains that I am troubled, for these gains will surely be 
wasted if the staying power of the current regime becomes the utmost 
priority of the government.

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