Ugandan security forces targeted members and supporters of the opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP) with lethal force, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment before, during and after the 15 January general elections, Amnesty International said today.
The organization received multiple reports indicating that between 15 and 18 January, the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Uganda Police Force likely killed at least 16 people across the country using unlawful force. They also arbitrarily arrested hundreds, subjected some to incommunicado detention or held them in unknown places of detention. Others were subjected to forms of ill-treatment, including acts that amount to torture, during arrests and while in detention. These violations occurred amid a nationwide Internet shutdown imposed by the authorities just two days before the elections.
“Three months since security forces meted out untold brutality on the public, no one has been held accountable,” said Tigere Chagutah Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.
“Ugandan authorities must ensure that that all allegations of human rights violations by the security forces are thoroughly, promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and that the officers responsible are held accountable.”
“Officers suspected of carrying out these abuses, including those who ordered or enabled them, must be suspended from work pending the completion of investigations.”
Between 5 January and 21 March, Amnesty International interviewed 33 men and 15 women based in Kampala city, Rubaga, Luwero, Bulenga, Mityana, Mukono, Rukiga, Mbarara, Luuka, Wakiso, Lira and, Tororo districts and Busoga region.
Three months since security forces meted out untold brutality on the public, no one has been held accountable.
Tigere Chagutah, Regional Director, Amnesty ESARO
Those interviewed included families of victims apparently killed by security forces; victims of gunshot injuries; victims of torture and other ill-treatment; victims of arbitrary arrests; eyewitnesses; and lawyers of those arbitrarily arrested. Amnesty International also reviewed six videos and six photos posted on social media or shared directly with the organization by trusted sources. The organization also reviewed charge sheets and official statements.
Ugandan authorities did not respond to Amnesty’s request for comment.
Unlawful use of lethal force by security forces
Amnesty International documented 10 incidents in which security officials appear to have used unlawful lethal force that resulted in the killing of at least seven people in Butambala, at least three people in Bulenga, two people in Luwero, and one person each in Rubaga, Nsambya, Mityana, and Mukono. Witnesses told Amnesty International that none of these victims was armed and they did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to anyone.
Ugandan authorities must ensure that that all allegations of human rights violations by the security forces are thoroughly, promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and that the officers responsible are held accountable.
Tigere Chagutah
Amnesty International verified postmortem reports of six victims, all of which indicated that they had died from gunshot injuries. Family members told Amnesty International they were not allowed to witness the postmortem process and that authorities had not launched investigations into the deaths.
On election night, as election agents of opposition Member of Parliament Mwanga Kivumbi gathered in his Butambala home to return the declaration of results forms, the army stormed the compound and shot and killed at least seven people, evidence gathered by Amnesty International indicates. The Inspector General of the Police, Abbas Byakagaba, said the killings took place when over 100 people at Mwanga Kivumbi’s home attempted to attack a nearby police station and a polling station.
Gloria, * whose mother was killed during the incident, recalled seeing her mother fighting for her life among those who had been shot. She pleaded with the army officers for an intervention, but one officer said, “If you feel you’re dying, get yourself out.”
On 15 January in Rubaga, Victoria Ndagire, 33, was walking back home with others after voting when she was shot from the back of her head, with the bullet exiting through her eye. Security officers who came to the scene alleged that “she could have been hit by a stone.” Witnesses told Amnesty International that before the incident, they saw two-armed officers nearby. According to her postmortem report, she died from gunshot injuries.
Amnesty International also documented three cases of individuals who said they were shot and injured by people they believed to be police or army officers. They reported sustaining injuries in the abdomen and the legs. Two sources, who were at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala on 15 and 16 January, said that they saw at least 12 other people with gunshot injuries, and that at least three of them died in hospital.
Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and incommunicado detention
Amnesty International documented 17 cases of arbitrary arrests, and interviewees provided information about 12 others who were arbitrarily arrested with them in Kampala, Masaka, Rukiga, Wakiso, Mbarara, Luuka, Lira, and Busoga region. The victims were arrested on the basis of their political affiliation. In all the cases documented by Amnesty International, victims were never presented with an arrest warrant, and, in some cases, they were arrested by individuals they believed to be plain-clothed security officers who neither identified themselves nor explained the reason for the arrest. Victims disclosed that during interrogation, they were questioned about their affiliation with the NUP or their support for its presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine).
Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release those still in detention solely for exercising their rights. The right to fair trial for those suspected of having committed an internationally recognized offence should be guaranteed.
Tigere Chagutah
Seven individuals were held incommunicado for a period ranging from three days to three weeks. In at least four of the cases, police denied holding the victims, pointing to possible cases of enforced disappearance. Three victims were held at an unknown detention facility, allegedly run by the military.
Victims of arbitrary arrest were charged with “incitement to violence, causing public nuisance, reckless driving, and possession of a voters’ register without reasonable cause.” Some have since been released on bail, while others remain in detention.
“Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release those still in detention solely for exercising their rights. The right to fair trial for those suspected of having committed an internationally recognized offence should be guaranteed,” said Tigere Chagutah.
Between 12 and 15 January, senior NUP officials, includeding Jolly Jacklyn Tukamushaba, Lina Zedriga, and Bright Muhumuza, were arbitrarily arrested by armed security officers, held at an unknown place of detention and charged, without legal representation, with a variety of offences, including ‘incitement to violence’ and ‘doing a rash and negligent act.’ They were never informed of the reasons for their arrest, and their families were never informed of their whereabouts until 6 February when they were charged in various courts.
The security officers came at 9:30am and ordered all of us to lie down. They started beating us with sticks and wires.
Victim
Buwembo Habib, NUP’s national mobilizer, was arbitrarily arrested by armed men in plain clothes believed to be soldiers, alongside two colleagues on 10 January as they drove to Masaka town for a political rally. On 12 January, they were charged, without legal representation, with causing public nuisance.
On 14 January, 40 police and army officers forced their way into the home of Rodgers Lutaaya, NUP chairperson for Luuka district, who had assembled about 200 polling agents for training and deployment ahead of the next day’s elections.
“The security officers came at 9:30am and ordered all of us to lie down. They started beating us with sticks and wires,” an individual who was present in the home said.
The security officers arrested everyone at the home, except relatives of the candidate. They were taken to Kiyunga central police station where they were held until 5pm and then released without charge.
Torture and other ill-treatment
Amnesty International interviewed 12 people who reported being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment by security officers during arrests or while in detention. They described being beaten with wires, sticks and batons. Some were hit with an axe on their ankles, while others said they were squeezed with pliers on different body parts. In three cases, medical reports reviewed by Amnesty International corroborated victims’ testimonies.
Jonathan*, 25, an opposition official from Busoga region, recounted how soldiers severely beat him and seven of his colleagues after they were arbitrarily arrested on 15 January as they were heading to a tallying centre. “One of us lost his teeth and another lost his eye.”
On 27 January, Philip*, an NUP candidate in Luuka district, was abducted by four men he believed to be army officers who subjected him to incommunicado detention for a week. He said: “When we arrived at the detention centre, the officers asked for my phone and when they saw numerous NUP WhatsApp groups, one of the officers said, ‘You’re the terrorists here in Busoga.’ They tied both my hands and legs with a rope and caned me severely, leaving my legs numb.’
Others were threatened with executions while in detention. Steven*, an associate to an NUP MP from Lira, was severely beaten when he was arrested together with four others by security officers on 26 December 2025. He was tortured and forced to “confess” that the MP had a gun. “They threw us on the floor of the car, and they were saying they would be taking us to the mortuary.”
“We had injuries on the head, hands, swollen body parts, and bleeding. We never got any medical treatment from the authorities,” Steven* lamented.
Amnesty International reviewed one video posted on social media on 19 January showing three men in camouflage outfits, one of them carrying a shotgun, beating with sticks three unarmed men who were laying on the ground. Two of the men on the ground wore vests similar to those worn by Uganda’s Electoral Commission officials.
The Ugandan authorities have international legal obligations to ensure that no one is subjected to arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearances, and to torture and other ill-treatment and to ensure that any such reports are investigated and prosecuted in fair proceedings, and victims are provided with effective remedies.
Tigere Chagutah
Amnesty International also verified a video published on social media on 27 January showing five men wearing Ugandan Police uniforms alongside men in plain clothes, beating a person with sticks in Nyanama, Lubaga Division.
The conduct in both videos amounts to torture and other-ill treatment.
Inhumane detention conditions
Some of those arrested said they were subjected to inhumane treatment at an unknown place of detention.
Three NUP members said that they were never given a change of clothes for over three weeks while in detention and were forced to use a UPDF-branded bedsheet as their towel and alternative clothing. They reported that guards brought food irregularly and denied them access to healthcare or sunlight throughout their detention.
Other detainees held in Lira and Luzira main prisons and Luzira Women’s Prison also reported extreme overcrowding, particularly during the election period.
Steven*, who was remanded at Lira main prison, said: “Five people can lie on top of you. You sleep only on one side up to morning. They give you food once a day, around midday.”
“The Ugandan authorities have international legal obligations to ensure that no one is subjected to arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearances, and to torture and other ill-treatment and to ensure that any such reports are investigated and prosecuted in fair proceedings, and victims are provided with effective remedies,” said Tigere Chagutah.
(*) Names have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed
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