[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 223 (Thursday, December 31, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7991-S7992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 UGANDA

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise with grave concern to speak about 
the troubling political situation in Uganda in the runup to that 
country's elections on January 14 and to call on President Museveni to 
take immediate action to stop the country's downward political spiral.
  Uganda has been an important if not critical security and 
counterterrorism partner to the United States for well over a decade, 
playing a prominent role in the African Union's Mission to Somalia and 
hosting over 1.4 million refugees. Its leadership and influence in East 
Africa and the African continent writ large is difficult to overstate. 
However, these are troubling times in Uganda, and longstanding efforts 
to advance its democracy are now in peril.
  National elections in Uganda have not met internationally accepted 
standards for free and fair polls since 1996, when they were held for 
the first time after a long-running conflict that brought President 
Museveni to power. For decades, Museveni's ruling National Resistance 
Party, NRM, has leveraged access to and influence over

[[Page S7992]]

state resources and institutions to tilt the electoral balance in its 
favor. These efforts are not new. Under President Museveni's 
leadership, the NRM successfully moved to change the Ugandan 
Constitution in 2005 to remove Presidential term limits and again in 
and 2017 to lift age limits. These changes allow President Museveni, 
who has been in power since 1986, to remain in office indefinitely. Not 
only have Museveni and the NRM engineered a constitutional coup, they 
have undertaken a campaign of political repression that has only become 
worse since the last general elections. Ugandan authorities have 
increasingly used coercive measures, including arbitrary arrests and 
detentions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and intrusive surveillance 
technology to intimidate and silence critics, place a strangle hold on 
media, and stifle political opposition in the country.
  Leading opposition figures have been targeted in brazen and shocking 
ways. Members of Parliament have been arrested and detained on numerous 
occasions, and there is strong evidence to support their claims of 
being tortured by President Museveni's security forces while in 
custody. Last week, prominent human rights attorney Nicholas Opiyo, 
along with several other attorneys, was arrested in what appears to be 
a blatant act of intimidation for their investigation into killings 
that occurred as a result of the arrest of rival Presidential candidate 
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu in November. Just this past weekend, one of 
Kyagulanyi's bodyguards was killed by security forces in a violent 
confrontation that also saw two journalists injured. Imagine that 
happening to any political candidate here in the United States to one 
of our colleagues as they were out on the campaign trail this fall. We 
should all be outraged by such acts.
  To date there have been no meaningful investigations into these 
incidents and no accountability for these abuses. The question we must 
ask ourselves is, Why? Why has President Museveni failed to take swift 
and decisive action to ensure the safety and security of members of the 
Ugandan Parliament and other opposition figures, and bring those 
responsible to justice? Is President Museveni protecting particular 
individuals? Or perhaps direct responsibility for the violence against 
the Uganda opposition lies even further up the chain of command?
  Journalists and nongovernmental organizations have been under 
pressure as well. Ugandan authorities continue to use a range of 
restrictive and onerous administrative measures against NGOs, including 
deregistration of more than 12,000 mostly local NGOs in November 2019. 
Earlier this month, Ugandan authorities froze the bank accounts of some 
NGOs, and in the past, the Museveni administration has denied entry and 
deported some leaders of international NGOs in what were clear acts of 
intimidation. Journalists working for foreign media outlets are now 
required to reregister with Ugandan authorities or risk criminal 
penalties, and some foreign journalists have also been deported from 
the country.
  Government has also attacked digital rights and academic freedoms. 
Individuals with large social media followings are subject to onerous 
administrative regulation. Burdensome taxes have been imposed on social 
media users, and some individuals who have criticized the Museveni 
administration on social media platforms have even been prosecuted. 
Ugandan authorities have taken repeated action to suppress academic 
freedom and intimidate students and faculty who have been critical of 
the Museveni administration, including by firing and jailing professors 
who criticize the regime.
  In short, the longstanding effort to build democracy in Uganda is 
under grave threat, and we must take action in support of those 
defending political freedoms in the country. That is why I introduced 
S. Res 807. It not only condemns the actions of the Museveni 
administration, it calls on the Secretary of State and the heads of 
relevant departments and agencies of the U.S. Government to undertake 
three essential actions: first, to consider the imposition of targeted 
sanctions and visa restrictions on actors involved in undermining 
credible, transparent elections, and those who have perpetrated or 
abetted human rights abuses; second, to work with African partners, 
like-minded countries, and international institutions and organizations 
to develop and implement strategies and actions to promote and defend 
human, civil, and political rights and multiparty democracy in Uganda; 
and third, to immediately conduct a review of U.S. assistance and 
cooperation with Uganda for the purposes of reprioritizing such 
assistance should neutral observers determine that the January 2021 
polls do not meet internationally accepted standards for credible 
elections.
  If the outcome of the elections in Uganda does not reflect the will 
of the people, I will be calling for the Biden administration to 
reevaluate our relationship with the Museveni administration, and I 
plan to pursue binding legislation in the 117th Congress that builds on 
S Res 807. Uganda's stature and importance as a security partner should 
not prevent the United States from speaking out in support of democracy 
and taking action in support of those Ugandans fighting for democratic 
freedoms.

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