Fisherfolk in Uganda welcome decreased army brutality
A 2017 Presidential Directive to regulate so-called illegal fishing in Uganda, led to widespread army brutality against those deemed to be illegal fishers. Army interventions disrupted livelihoods in fisheries communities across the country, leaving many destitute and facing hunger and malnutrition. But things are changing for the better.
Since the President of the Republic of Uganda directed the People’s Defense Force to combat illegal fishing, a special Fisheries Protection Unit has been systematically violating the human rights of small-scale fishermen and women through unlawful arrest, physical assault and destruction of property, including burning boats and fishing gear. Several fishermen were reportedly killed in 2020.
This army brutality has denied many small scale fishers access to Uganda’s extensive lakes, jeopardizing their human right to adequate food and nutrition. Despite the Minister for Fisheries affirming that the army will continue its operations in late 2023, a year later the Ugandan parliament ordered the fisheries ministry to implement the Fisheries and Aquaculture Act of 2022, which replaces armed forces with a non-military Monitoring, Surveillance, and Control Unit.
Advocating for rights
Recognizing the issues faced by fisheries communities, FIAN Uganda has embarked on a mission to advocate for their rights and dignity over the last five years. It implemented a multi-faceted strategy that included organizing community dialogues, conducting human rights trainings and sensitisation, engaging the media to highlight the plight of affected individuals, and supporting communities in writing petitions and letters to authorities and directly engaging and working with policy makers to influence fisheries and food policies in the country. The challenges facing fishing communities have also been highlighted in CEDAW and UPR parallel reporting to UN treaty bodies and the UN Human Rights Council.
“The concluding observations from CEDAW and the UPR have requested the State of Uganda to investigate and hold accountable state security agents and members of the police and army who have committed human rights abuses as well as ensuring adequate compensation for victims,” says Valentin Hategekimana, Africa Coordinator at FIAN International
FIAN Uganda’s work, together with other partners, has benefited more than 5,000 men and women in fisheries communities through human rights trainings and dialogues over the last five years. While the trainings were aimed at creating awareness about human rights and what constitutes violations – particularly of the right to food and nutrition – the dialogues were principally aimed at bringing all actors to the same table to discuss the challenges faced by fishing communities and how to solve them.
Progress
These dialogues fed into legal framework discussions, including the amendment of the fisheries bill and its subsequent passing into law in 2023 and the tabling of a long-awaited food and nutrition bill. Today, although the army remains present on the lake, incidents of brutality and human rights violations have decreased. Efforts are underway to fully establish the Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Unit, as mandated by law. This unit will be composed of personnel appointed by the Public Service Commission to facilitate the complete withdrawal of the army.
“These achievements are the result of a strong mobilisation of communities to directly engage with policy makers and bring their lived experiences to the policy tables,” says Dr. Rehema Namaganda Bavuma, Coordinator of FIAN Uganda.
For more information, please contact Valentin Hategekimana hategekimana@fian.org
