Uganda will not renew the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, which ends this year.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem stated that the decision to expel the United Nations Human Rights Office was based on progress made in developing the domestic capacity to monitor rights.
“The whole of Uganda is peaceful, and we have developed dynamic internal institutions such as the Uganda Human Rights Commission,” said Oryem.
However, the move has been massively criticized by the opposition and human rights activists.
The Leader of the opposition in parliament Mathias Mpuuga accused the regime of President Yoweri Museveni of being scared of scrutiny and choosing to operate in the dark.
Dr Sarah Bireete, a human rights activist, said that the timing of the non-renewal is very wrong.
“We have witnessed growing trends of torture, kidnap, and trial of civilians in military courts even after two rulings of the Constitutional Court declared it unconstitutional,” she said.
Also, the United States Ambassador to Uganda, Natalie E. Brown expressed worry urging the government to review its decision.
But, what is the UN’s human rights mandate?
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all human rights.
UN Human Rights was created by the General Assembly in 1993 through its resolution 48/141 which also details its mandate.
UN Human Rights is mandated:
-Promote and protect all human rights for all
-Recommend that bodies of the UN system improve the promotion and protection of all human rights
-Promote and protect the right to development
-Provide technical assistance to States for human rights activities
-Coordinate UN human rights education and public information programmes
-Work actively to remove obstacles to the realization of human rights and to prevent the continuation of human rights violations
-Engage in dialogue with Governments in order to secure respect for all human rights
-Enhance international cooperation for the promotion and protection of all human rights
-Coordinate human rights promotion and protection activities throughout the United Nations system
-Rationalize, adapt, strengthen, and streamline the UN human rights machinery.