Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10KAMPALA41
2010-01-27 10:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kampala
Cable title:  

UGANDA'S SHRINKING PRESS FREEDOMS

Tags:  PHUM PGOV KDEM UG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9141
RR RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0041/01 0271054
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 271054Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0161
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000041 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/27
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA'S SHRINKING PRESS FREEDOMS

REF: 09 KAMPALA 01074; 09 KAMPALA 00949; 10 KAMPALA 19; 10 KAMPALA 13

CLASSIFIED BY: Aaron Sampson, Pol/Econ Chief; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000041

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/27
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM UG
SUBJECT: UGANDA'S SHRINKING PRESS FREEDOMS

REF: 09 KAMPALA 01074; 09 KAMPALA 00949; 10 KAMPALA 19; 10 KAMPALA 13

CLASSIFIED BY: Aaron Sampson, Pol/Econ Chief; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (SBU) Summary: On January 6, the Ugandan Human Rights Network
for Journalists (HRNJ) declared 2009 "the worst year" for Ugandan
journalists since press restrictions were lifted in the early
1990s. According to HRNJ, 18 journalists were fired during the year
due to government pressure and more than 80 were deprived of their
rights. This year is shaping up to be another difficult one for
Ugandan journalists, as police have already interrogated two
journalists for reporting on civilian paramilitary training
sponsored by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM). On
January 17, the Daily Monitor reported that a third journalist has
received threatening telephone calls related to a story detailing
corruption and kickbacks in Uganda's nascent oil sector. End
Summary.



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Tough Year for Press Freedoms

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2. (SBU) HRNJ identified the Ugandan Broadcasting Council and the
police as the largest threats to press freedom in Uganda. HRNJ is
an independent media advocacy network supported in part by the
Danish development agency DANIDA, the International Freedom of
Expression Exchange (IFEX),and the Medial Legal Defense
Initiative. In its annual report for 2009, HRNJ accused the
Broadcasting Council of "arbitrarily" closing five radio stations
and forcing the firings of 18 journalists following the deadly
September 10-12 riots in Kampala. Radio stations closed after the
riots included two Central Broadcasting Service (CBS) stations
owned by the Buganda Kingdom, Suubi FM, Radio Two, and the Catholic
Church-owned Radio Sapientia. All but the two CBS stations have
since reopened under new guidelines strictly limiting their
coverage of political issues. HRNJ accused the police and other
security forces of illegally detaining 16 journalists during the
September riots, and said several journalists were beaten and
forced to delete from their cameras images of dead bodies or police
brutality.




3. (SBU) HRNJ described nine journalists as "under police
harassment" during 2009. All nine underwent multiple police

interrogations during the year. The two senior editors of The
Independent magazine - Andrew Mwenda and Charles Bichachi - were
each forced to post bond more than seven times. Five senior
journalists for the Daily Monitor were also forced to post bond
several times. HRNJ reported that 21 journalists were charged
during the year for the offenses of criminal defamation, sedition,
treason, promoting sectarianism, and forgery. Seven cases filed by
journalists against the government were ongoing during the year.
Radio personality Robert Kalundi Sserumaga, who was kidnapped and
beaten by security forces for his reporting on the riots (ref. A),
subsequently sued the Police's Rapid Response Unit (RRU) for
torture and the Broadcasting Council for illegally depriving him
and other suspended journalists of their livelihoods.




4. (SBU) HRNJ called on the government to take measures to protect
journalists, eliminate intimidation, and investigate cases of
harassment. The group warned that the "chilling effect" of
government intimidation has already increased levels of
self-censorship among journalists, thereby "undermining the power
of the media to hold public officers accountable."




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Journalists Harassed for Reporting on Civilian Paramilitary
Training

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KAMPALA 00000041 002 OF 003


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5. (SBU) In 2010, authorities have already questioned Daily Monitor
journalists for reporting on the NRM's civilian paramilitary
training program, known locally as "mchaka-mchaka." According to
NRM deputy spokesman Ofwono Opondo, the NRM uses this training to
indoctrinate and mobilize new party members. As part of the
mchaka-mchaka process, uniformed Uganda Peoples Defense Forces
(UPDF) officers drill squads of stick wielding civilians. Mission
officers and others noticed increased mchaka-mchaka training in
Kampala following the deadly September 2009 riots that left 28
people dead and more than 100 wounded. In October, the Daily
Monitor reported that more than 1,000 people signed up for the
training following the riots as part of "a renewed NRM government
effort to equip Ugandans with basic military skills ahead of the
2011 general elections."




6. (SBU) On December 12, President Museveni presided over a
graduation ceremony for perhaps as many as 2,500 new mchaka-mchaka
trainees. Some of these graduates were issued uniforms and AK-47s
for the occasion. In a December 20 article entitled "Preparing for
the 2011 Elections by Arming the Troops," Monitor reporter Angelo
Izama reported concerns articulated by opposition leaders and an
unnamed diplomat that recent mchaka-mchaka graduates were
specifically trained as election "watchers" or "scouts" to
influence the February 2011 elections. On December 21, President
Museveni accused the Monitor of scaring away investors and said:
"These people of the Monitor, I am going to deal with them if they
don't change their ways." On December 22, police questioned Izama
for five hours for allegedly defaming the President and criminal
libel. On January 11, police summoned Izama's editor, Henry
Ochieng, for questioning. Ochieng returned for additional
questioning on January 20 and is required, along with Izama, to
check in with authorities once a week. Ochieng and the Monitor's
Managing Editor Daniel Kalinaki also appeared in court in January
to defend themselves against forgery charges related to an article
on the Bunyoro Kingdom and President Museveni published in August
2009 (ref. B) .



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Journalist Threatened for Reporting on Oil Corruption


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7. (SBU) Another Monitor journalist, Richard Wanambwa, has received
threatening telephone calls related to a January 3 story on
corruption in Uganda's nascent oil sector. Wanambwa's article
relayed excerpts of an internal Ugandan government security report
alleging that an unnamed senior government official is poised to
receive a significant kickback for facilitating an agreement
between Italian oil giant ENI, Heritage Oil, and the Ugandan
government (ref. C). On January 17, the Monitor reported that
Wanambwa has received "phone calls from unknown people demanding
that he drops further reporting on the issue or 'be dealt with.'"
The Monitor also reported that "hardly a week ago, a minister who
has been involved in a scandal over land related matters whispered
to another reporter working with Monitor Publications that Mr.
Wanambwa should watch his back."




8. (C) NOTE: The Monitor was clearly referring to Security Minister
and NRM Secretary General Amama Mbabazi who was involved in a
scandal over land-related matters in 2008. The threatening
telephone calls described by the Monitor are nearly identical to
threats received in December by a local anti-corruption activist,
Jasper Tumuhimbise, following the publication of a booklet
identifying Mbabazi as Uganda's most corrupt public official (ref.
D). On January 14, Tumuhimbise told PolOff that he'd been warned
that Mbabazi and Public Works Minister John Nasasira, who also
figured high on the list of corrupt officials, were working on a
plan to "handle" him. END NOTE

KAMPALA 00000041 003 OF 003


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Comment: Press Intimidation Continues

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9. (C) The continued harassment and intimidation of local
journalists - through police questioning, spurious legal charges,
or more nefarious means - is undermining press freedoms, increasing
levels of media self-censorship, and limiting public debate. A
January 21 editorial by the Monitor's Managing Editor, Daniel
Kalinaki, noted that over 100 journalists in Uganda "today face
some form of charge or sanction by the government." Kalinaki
observed that while local radio talk shows are free to discuss
President Obama's first year in office, the moment a listener calls
in to talk about President Museveni, radio hosts cut off the call.
"Apparently while it was okay for Ugandans to analyze the
performance of a far-away leader they do not vote for," wrote
Kalinaki, "the presenters considered it too risky for this and
perhaps other callers to discuss the performance of their own
President on matters that affect them. Of course the danger of the
government thugs coming after critical media houses - even those
that simply offer a platform for debate - is real." Kalinaki
concluded that "the presenters on this radio station, like many
Ugandans, have chosen survival over standing up for their rights."
More and more Ugandan journalists and civil society activists will
likely opt for survival in 2010 as Uganda continues to crack down
on the handful of critics determined to stand up for their right to
criticize their government.
LANIER