The post-election treatment meted out to the main opposition candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu known popularly as Bobi Wine and his family has attracted attention from many people with the latest being the renowned Nigerian senior lawyer Femi Falana SAN.
The Human rights lawyer has on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 revealed that, he has filed a complaint at the United Nations (UN) against Ugandan government and its current long-serving president, Yoweri Museveni following reports of human rights violations targeted at Bobi Wine and his family.
“We have submitted a complaint against the government of Uganda to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning the detention of the detained couple,” Falana said.
An excerpt of his complaint to the UN reads: “Mr. Wine and his wife are being illegally detained for days without any criminal charges preferred against him. He has also been denied adequate supply of food by hundreds of Uganda military forces and policemen who have laid siege to his house for the umpteenth time since the Election Day.”
The rights activist added in same document that, he is therefore “seeking an opinion from the Working Group finding the house arrest and continuing detention of Mr. Wine and his wife to be arbitrary and in violation of Uganda’s Constitution of 1995 (as amended) and obligations under international human rights law including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Uganda is a state party.”
Bobi wine has since been under house arrest days after the election results were announced; according to him, his house is “under siege” and they have run out of food but all attempts to get food items proved futile. The Pop Star cum politician earlier stated that, the US ambassador to Uganda made efforts to visit him but was returned by the military men surrounding his house.
Femi Falana, SAN considers this a violation of his rights hence his decision to make a formal complain to the UN. One thing that is of interest is the fact that, this is not the first time Falana is hauling Museveni before the UN. In 2018, the Lawyer dragged Uganda and the President to the UN demanding that, they “urgently investigate ongoing reports of clampdown on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, media freedom and to human dignity in Uganda.”
Museveni seem to be in total control but can Falana finally save Bobi wine with this current appeal to the UN?