In August 2001, the government of Uganda brutally evicted 392 peasant families (approximately 2041 persons) from their land in Mubende. The land was then given to a German coffee company for the purpose of establishing a coffee plantation under its local subsidiary, Kaweri Coffee Plantation Ltd. While some of the victims have found shelter on the neighbouring land and are conducting temporary small-scale farming, others were employed by the plantation as casual workers. After years of struggle, the legal procedure to reclaim their land and properties is still being obstructed and delayed. The government, represented by the attorney general, continues to impede the due course of the process.
Background
On August 18, 2001, the Government of Uganda acting through the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) deployed its army which brutally displaced 392 peasant families (more than 2000 persons). Their houses were demolished, properties destroyed, and staple crops such as cassava and potatoes were confiscated. Several of them were beaten up during the eviction. They were living on a portion of land which was to be leased to the Kaweri Coffee Plantation Ltd, a subsidiary of the German Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, for the purpose of establishing a coffee plantation. Neither have the victims received adequate compensation for the lost land, nor any social assistance while they were pushed off to the forest nearby. As a result, five people died in the immediate aftermath of the eviction. Although international attention was called through FIAN’s urgent action launched in December 2001, July 2002 and September 2004, the Government of Uganda has not yet responded to the issue.
After the eviction, some peasants were employed on the coffee plantation as casual labourers under inadequate labour conditions, while the big majority of the evicted families have found shelter on the neighbouring land. However, they only have small plots of land for farming which are insufficient to provide their families with adequate food. Worse still, many of these families are now facing a new threat of eviction because a neighbouring land owner is interested in buying the piece of land on which they live today.
Since the forcible eviction in August 2001, the displaced peasants have been fighting with all the means at their disposal to gain their right to food. After their attempts to reach a settlement by political means had failed, they filed a court case, directly against the Attorney General of Uganda in his capacity as representative of the Ugandan government on the one hand, and against Kaweri on the other. However, the hearings were postponed several times without any prior notice, making the long and expensive journey to the court futile.
Nevertheless, the victims and complainants have not given up and in June 2007 a hearing finally took place with all parties concerned. This gave hope to the representatives of the victims´ group and their supporters, especially since the next substantive hearing was scheduled for September 2007 in Mubende. However, this hearing has again been cancelled and the Attorney General as the representative of the Ugandan Government is still failing to present the information and documentation which is required from the defence for the substantive consideration of the case.
FIAN Mandate
It is necessary to support the peasants whose right to food is still being violated as without land, the peasant families are unable to feed themselves adequately. The Government of Uganda must respect the right to food of these peasant families and rectify the forcible eviction committed in 2001. The government has also to ensure the right to effective remedy of victims of human rights violations.
Call to Action
FIAN has intervened three time in the past (0418huga, 0133huga and 0215huga) on this case. As a result of the first interventions, a better access to clean water has been achieved and the position of the victims has been strengthened in the legal procedure they engaged. Nevertheless, neither land nor properties lost during the eviction have been returned to these peasant families till today. An international action is necessary to support the peasants in the legitimate and legal struggle to obtain justice against violations of their right to food. Please write a letter to President Kaguta Yoweri Museveni, requesting him to immediately ensure the full collaboration of the state in the legal procedure and the due course of justice.
URGENT ACTION 0715UUGA
Original Letter:
Dear Mr. President,
Recently I received alarming news regarding 2000 persons who were forcibly displaced by the Ugandan army from their land in August 2001. The land was then leased to Kaweri Coffee Plantation Ltd, a subsidiary of the German Neumann Kaffee Gruppe for the purpose of establishing a coffee plantation. Not only was the victims’ land taken away brutally, their houses were demolished, properties destroyed, and staple crops such as cassava and potatoes were confiscated. In order to sustain their livelihood, some evictees have found shelter on the neighbouring land for temporary small-scale farming, while others have taken up a job as casual workers on the plantation. However, they only have small plots of land for farming which are insufficient to provide their families with adequate food.
The victims filed a court case in the summer of 2002, but the court has repeatedly postponed the hearings and several hearings were attended only by the representatives of the evictees in the absence of the representatives of the defendants. When finally, on June 27, a hearing took place with all parties concerned and substantive issues were discussed, the Attorney General failed to provide the requested information. Very recently, the rays of hope in a legal solution were again destroyed through the cancellation by the judge of the follow-up hearing which should have taken place in September 2007.
I am very concerned about the circumstances of these postponements and lack of collaboration of the Attorney General in the process which are tantamount to a denial of justice to the victims. Moreover, the executive should take the necessary measures of rehabilitation and compensation by itself- and return the land to the peasants.
Uganda is a state party to the International Covenant on Economical, Social and Cultural Rights, and is therefore duty-bound under international law to respect the right to food of all of her people. The current situation threatens the peasants’ right to adequate food, as enshrined in the Covenant. I would therefore like, Mr. President, to address the following demands to you:
Ensure the full collaboration of the Attorney General, representing the Ugandan Government, with the judge in charge of the case;
Develop a calendar for returning the lost land to the evicted peasants and for providing rehabilitation and compensation.
Please keep me informed about all the measures you intend to take on this matter.
Sincerely Yours,
