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TITLE: UGANDA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
UGANDA
Since 1986 President Yoweri Museveni and his National
Resistance Movement (NRM) have exercised authority through the
National Resistance Council (NRC), an appointed Cabinet, and
the National Resistance Army. Both the NRC and the Cabinet
include members of the three major political parties, the
Democratic Party (DP), the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), and
the Conservative Party (CP). Although he generally seeks
consensus with key institutions and interest groups on
important policy issues, the President dominates the Government
and the transition process to constitutional government.
Elections for a Constituent Assembly to debate and adopt a new
constitution were scheduled for March 28, 1994, with general
elections under the new constitution to be held by the end of
1994. The present Government's term expires on January 25,
1995.
Under the President, the National Resistance Army (NRA) is the
key security apparatus in Uganda. As part of his strategy to
deal with insurgencies, Museveni expanded the army tenfold
between 1986 and 1991, incorporating former rebels into the
NRA; this eroded discipline within the ranks. In 1992, as the
security situation stabilized, the Government began
demobilizing the armed forces, discharging over 23,000 soldiers
by the end of 1993. The professionalism of the police force
continued to grow in 1993, although it remained severely
underfunded, ill-trained, poorly equipped, and often corrupt.
The Army, along with home guards and local defense units,
continued to perform police functions in rural areas. The
Internal Security Organization (ISO) is responsible for
intelligence and security. As armed insurgencies in northern
and northeastern Uganda ended during the year, reports of human
rights abuses by the NRA and the rebels declined significantly.
The Ugandan economy remains primarily based in agriculture,
with rural poverty a continuing problem. The economic growth
rate averaged about 7 percent in 1993, with a negative
inflation rate, both positive signs of the country's improving
economy. Coffee remains the chief export crop and foreign
exchange earner, but efforts to diversify the economy continued
to pay off in modest increases in tobacco, cotton, and tea
exports. Foreign aid contributed 60 percent of government
spending in 1993. In accordance with reforms supported by the
International Monetary Fund, the civil service began a
retrenchment in 1992, cutting the government payroll.
Overall, the human rights situation in Uganda continued to
improve in 1993. With the apparent end of major armed
insurgencies, which had been responsible in the past for
massive violations by both the NRA and the rebel forces, there
were few reports of such violations, and by the end of the year
the Government had released almost all civilian and military
prisoners taken during the campaigns. Nonetheless, the
Government continued to bear responsibility for some serious
human rights abuses. These included restrictions on organized
political party activity, including breaking up peaceful
political assembly, the harassment of journalists through
arrests on sedition charges, and occasional incidents of
torture and beatings of prisoners. Discrimination, domestic
violence, and rape against women continued.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There is no evidence that the Government sanctioned political
killings in 1993. There were, however, reports of
extrajudicial killings. For example, on June 21, police and
internal security officials arrested four intelligence officers
accused of murdering two prisoners in Iganga district on
June 7. The case received considerable media attention. Two
of the four accused officers were released without charge; the
other two were being held in Makindye military prison without
charge at year's end.
Rebel groups also engaged in extrajudicial killings. In March
a group calling itself The Lord's Resistance Army abducted the
former District Administrator (DA) of Nebbi and killed three
others; the DA was released by the group on April 29. In
April, a rebel group led by Charles Ogwang killed a Resistance
Council official and a Local Defense Unit member in Kumi
district. In November a group thought to be members of the
Lakwena rebels ambushed and killed an assistant security
officer and one home guard in Gulu district. Remnants of
Uganda Patriotic Army rebels killed three people in Kumi
district, also in November. It is not clear whether the above
incidents were politically motivated or criminal acts of murder.
In contrast to past years, there were no reports in 1993 that
the NRA committed extrajudicial killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no known government-sponsored disappearances in 1993.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
While isolated incidents of torture and beatings of prisoners
by police and army officials continue, there is no evidence of
government-sanctioned torture. "Kandoya," a traditional local
method of immobilizing prisoners by suspending them by their
wrists and ankles which are tied behind their backs, was still
reported. The practice is illegal, however, and military
authorities have publicly expressed their condemnation of it.
Increased military discipline combined with increased security
in the country, open newspaper reporting of military
misconduct, and the political will of the higher levels of the
administration resulted in reducing the incidence of abuses of
persons under detention.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had access
to all prisoners it requested to visit in prisons, police
stations, military barracks and NRA detachments throughout
Uganda. The NRA would not permit private ICRC interviews with
soldiers who had not been sentenced. Diplomats from several
countries were also allowed to visit civilian and military
prisons.
Uganda's prisons reportedly have one of the highest mortality
rates in the world from diseases spread by unsanitary
conditions, malnutrition, and AIDS, a disease which is pandemic
in Uganda. Prisoners do not have access to proper medical care
nor adequate nutrition. The ICRC arranged for installation of
a new water system for Luzira and successfully negotiated with
the Government for families to be permitted to bring food to
prisoners throughout Uganda, improving their nutrition. In
1993 there were media reports of homosexual rape among the
inmate population. Luzira prison, Uganda's largest with an
intended capacity of 600, held about 1,200 at the end of 1993,
down from more than 2,000 at the beginning of 1992. The
Foundation for Human Rights Initiatives in Uganda and Penal
Reform International, an organization based in Britain,
conducted a conference in August on penal justice and prison
reform, including a visit by participants to Luzira.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Although Ugandan law requires that a suspect must be charged
within 24 hours of arrest and be brought to trial or considered
for bail within 240 days (480 days for a capital offense),
government offficials failed to enforce both requirements.
The Government has a variety of legal means to detain
indefinitely suspected opponents, including through broadly
interpreted charges of treason that may be used to hold a
suspect for 480 days before trial or consideration of an
application for bail. The Public Order and Security Act of
1967 (The Detention Order) permits unlimited detention without
charge, and remains a lever for the Government to use against
opponents, but the Act has not been invoked by the NRM.
The Government released most of the remaining civilians and
rebel soldiers who had been detained in the various insurgency
campaigns; at one time they numbered in the thousands. The
Government or NRA usually held these persons on treason
charges, often in military barracks, but rarely brought them to
trial. Among those released in August were nine military
officers who were arrested in 1990 for conspiracy to overthrow
the Government by force of arms. One of the nine released
officers plans to stand for the Constituent Assembly election.
With relative peace throughout the country, the Government
detained fewer persons without charge than in past years. The
Government did not formally charge anyone with treason in
1993. Ten suspected rebels were arrested during the year;
those who were not released were charged with criminal
offenses. Police arrested three journalists on charges of
sedition for printing stories critical of government policy and
officials (see Section 2.a.). At the end of the year, the
Government held approximately 100 persons on state security
grounds, with 14 new cases reported in 1993, as opposed to 423
new cases in 1992.
The Government does not use exile as a means of political
control. A presidential amnesty for former rebels remains in
effect and applies to opponents in exile. Those who return,
however, may be prosecuted for criminal acts they may have
committed. Ugandans continued to return from exile in 1993,
including former president Tito Okello.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Ugandan court system consists of magistrates' courts, the
High Court, and a Supreme Court. There is also a military
court system for hearing offenses against military personnel.
The judicial system contains procedural safeguards modeled
after British law, including the granting of bail and appeals
to higher courts. However, the Government has circumscribed
the right to a fair trial in recent years by its reliance on
indefinite detention of its opponents, by an inadequate system
of judicial administration, and by the reluctance of military
authorities to respect civilian court orders. In one instance,
for example, a military court refused to honor a civilian
court's writ of habeas corpus. Trials in the military court
system also lack important due process safeguards and do not
meet international standards.
A serious backlog of cases denies most defendants a speedy
trial. Criminal cases can take 2 or more years to reach the
courts. In rural areas, there is often no magistrate. There
were no reports of the use of military field tribunals in
remote areas as had occurred in previous years.
The Ugandan Law Society operated legal aid clinics in Kampala
and Jinja, with plans to open an additional clinic in Fort
Portal, assisting free of charge more than 100 people.
The Ugandan judiciary is generally independent; the Government
usually complies with court decisions. In appointing the four
members of the Judicial Service Commission which makes
recommendations on High Court and Supreme Court appointments,
the President maintains considerable control over the
judiciary. The Commission must concur in the dismissal of a
magistrate. A judge may be removed only after a tribunal
comprised of three judges finds that he is "unable to perform
the functions of his office."
In June a Commission of Inquiry into the mismangagement of
criminal cases, headed by a British High Court Justice, began
public hearings, preceded by the suspension of the Director of
Public Prosecution and another officer. At the end of the
year, some state attorneys had also been suspended. The
Commission will continue its hearings in 1994, with an expected
completion date of March.
Village resistance councils (RC's) have the authority to settle
civil disputes, including those related to land ownership and
payment of debts. The RC courts, typically the only ones
available to villagers, often exceed their authority by hearing
criminal cases, including murder and rape. Legally the RC
decisions may be appealed in magistrates' courts. In practice
this does not often happen because people are ignorant of their
right to appeal or are limited by lack of finances. The
Ugandan Law Society proposed to the Attorney General in 1992
that the village RC courts be replaced by a group of elected
elders of impeccable character to be supervised by magistrates,
thus separating the judicial and executive functions at the
village level. The Government did not respond to the proposal.
The military court system does not meet international standards
for assuring a fair trial. Although the accused has the right
to legal counsel, the defense attorney is often untrained and
is usually assigned by the military command which also appoints
the prosecutor and the adjudicating officer. The sentence
passed by a military court, which may invoke the death penalty,
may be appealed to the High Command. The Government has never
implemented a 1989 law permitting the establishment of special
magistrates courts in areas of insurgency, but, like the
Detention Order, the Government is not likely to revoke it.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Government does not intrude on the privacy, family, or home
of citizens on a wide scale, and there is no indication that it
interfered with private correspondence in 1993. However,
although search warrants are legally required before private
homes or offices may be entered, the police and the army in
Kampala and Gulu violated this requirement. In February before
the Pope's visit, the police conducted security searches
without warrants. Police officials also reportedly conducted
sweeps of vehicles and pedestrians without warrants, searching
for illegal weapons in cities throughout the country.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Government restricts freedom of speech by limiting
political party activities and by arresting journalists for
sedition. Three arrests of journalists in late 1993 had a
temporary chilling effect on both the press and the opposition,
although the journalists were released on bail and continued to
publish articles critical of the Government and its human
rights abuses. Despite restrictions on party rallies and other
public activities, open debate occurs in the NRC, in the media,
and in public forums. Public figures openly criticize
government policies, corruption, and human rights abuses.
Fifteen newspapers and magazines cover a wide range of
viewpoints. Despite other restrictions on political party
activity, political parties publish newspapers to promote their
views. The Government owns the New Vision, which has
accurately reported on corruption in government and human
rights abuses by the NRA. Among the main problems confronting
Uganda print media are extremely tight operating budgets,
limited access to information, and the absence of formal
distribution channels outside the capital. There are no
foreign correspondents in Uganda.
Unlike the regimes that preceded it, the NRM has not instituted
formal censorship. However, the legal provisions for doing so
remain on the books, and the Government has used sedition
charges to attack its press critics. Government actions
against journalists have resulted in some self-censorship. A
journalism bill called for the creation of a media council to
monitor and discipline journalists. The bill was strongly
criticized by members of the press; the journalists' union
sponsored a seminar in November attacking the bill. The
Government withdrew the bill for further revision and review.
There were a number of government-initiated actions against the
press. On October 1, police arrested two journalists, the
editor in chief of Uganda Confidential, Teddy Seezi Cheeye, and
a subeditor of Shariat, on charges of sedition. On October 25,
police arrested the editor of Shariat on charges of publishing
seditious stories. He was later released on bail; his case,
and that of his subeditor, remained pending in the courts at
year's end.
In early December, Kampala's Chief Magistrate dismissed charges
of defamation and sedition against Uganda Confidential editor
Cheeye dating from 1991 and 1992. On December 4, however, the
Government added two new charges of sedition against Cheeye for
an August issue of Uganda Confidential. The court scheduled
the next hearing in this case against Cheeye for January 1994.
Before his October 1 arrest, editor Cheeye had faced seven
different law suits for publishing allegedly defamatory and
seditious articles about the President, Cabinet ministers, and
other prominent Ugandans. In March the president of the Uganda
Journalists Association won about $3,000 (3 million Uganda
shillings)in damages in one such case against Uganda
Confidential.
Uganda Television (UTV) and Radio Uganda are controlled by the
Government. They disseminate NRM views, but also broadcast
discussions of public policy that reflect a variety of
opinion. Political party spokespersons have appeared on UTV
and Radio Uganda, usually facing critical interviewers, but
openly expressing their views.
A considerable degree of academic freedom exists at Uganda's
five public and three private universities, with no government
interference in teaching, research, or publication. Professors
appear to exercise caution rather than test the limits of their
academic freedom. Students, however, have sponsored
wide-ranging political debates in open forums on campus.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
All associations in Uganda must register with the Government.
Permits for public gatherings must be obtained from police
authorities, who have and exercise the right to deny permits in
the interest of public safety. Although political parties are
not banned, political activity is restricted, and political
rallies are not allowed. The police and district
administration officials broke up four meetings convened by UPC
officials: A joint executive meeting for UPC leaders in Arua
in February, and UPC meetings in Nebbi in March, and in Pallisa
and Mbale in April.
In May the mobilizers' group of the Democratic Party scheduled
a rally in Kampala in defiance of the restrictions on party
activities. A strong show of force by the police, unchallenged
by the mobilizers, blocked the rally. The DP Mobilizers
scheduled a second rally for November 13. Police again
presented a show of force and the organizers canceled the rally
before it began.
In December an unofficial UPC meeting at a funeral in Lira
resulted in a confrontation with the police; UPC officials
disbanded the meeting to avoid violence. Later in the month,
police shot into the air when a a crowd of UPC supporters
gathered to block the arrest of a UPC leader; several people
were injured. The UPC has brought a case to court challenging
the restrictions on public political party activity as
unconstitutional since they violate the freedoms of speech and
assembly in the current (1967) Constitution. On December 14, a
High Court judge referred the case to a Constitutional Court,
which will be constituted of three senior High Court judges.
Professional associations operate without hindrance, as do
international service asssociations.
c. Freedom of Religion
There is no state religion in Uganda. Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism, and African traditional religions are freely
practiced. Conversion between religions is not obstructed.
Foreign missionaries and other religious figures are generally
welcome in Uganda. There is no government control of religious
publications, even those with an antigovernment bias.
Religious leaders frequently speak out publicly on topics
relating to their followers' welfare, addressing in particular
human rights, security, and political issues.
While it has not been uniformly enforced, the Government
requires religious groups to register as nongovernmental
organizations (NGO's). Registration has not curtailed
activities by these groups.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
As security conditions continued to improve, freedom of
movement in Uganda expanded greatly, although access to some
areas remained restricted. The NRA required vehicles to travel
in convoys on the route between Karuma and Pakwach in the
northwest for several months in early 1993. Travel in the
east, and particularly Karamoja in the northeast, remained
difficult due to sporadic attacks by armed bandits.
Ugandans are free to emigrate and to travel abroad. Uganda
accommodates refugees from Sudan, Rwanda, Zaire, Somalia, and
other countries. There were over 250,000 registered, and a
large number of unregistered refugees in Uganda in 1993. In
August and September, new waves of Sudanese refugees began
crossing the border into northern Uganda fleeing war and
insecurity. At the same time, the cease-fire and the August
Peace Accord between the Rwandan Government and the Rwandan
Patriotic Front brought the voluntary repatriation of thousands
of Rwandan refugees from Uganda.
There were no instances of expulsion or forced repatriation of
refugees in 1993.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens did not have this right in 1993. However, the
constitutional commission presented the draft constitution to
the President in December 1992, and the NRC passed the
Constituent Assembly Statute in April 1993. The Statute
established the composition and duties of the Assembly, which
will debate and enact a new constitution, and created an
independent election commission tasked with laying the
groundwork for and conducting elections. The Assembly has a
mandate of 4 months, with one 3-month extension, to prepare a
final constitution. The NRC is planning elections for
President and Members of Parliament in 1994, following the
enactment of this new constitution.
The Constituent Assembly will have 288 members: 214 elected
directly, 39 women elected within the RC's, 10 delegates for
the army, 10 presidential appointees, 2 delegates for each of
the 4 established political parties, plus representatives for
youth (4), labor (2), and the disabled (1).
Until the new constitution is in place and elections are held,
President Museveni, who was never elected and has never faced a
vote of confidence, continues to hold power as Chief Executive,
Minister of Defense, and Chairman of the National Resistance
Council. Although he has avoided serious confrontations with
major institutions and interest groups (including the parties),
there are few meaningful checks and balances on his
presidential power. Museveni has publicly stated his
opposition to multiparty politics, but he also has said
repeatedly that he will accept such a system if it emerges from
the deliberations on the new constitution. In July the NRC, at
Museveni's urging, restored Uganda's four kingdoms in cultural
terms only (without political power), a move which won him
support from the 4 million Baganda.
There are no restrictions in law on the participation of women
in politics. Women hold positions of responsibility at all
levels of the Government and within some of the political
parties, one of which (the UPC) has a woman as its highest
acting official. In the NRC, women hold 39 of the 264
positions; 4 of the 39 government ministers, deputy ministers,
and ministers of state are women.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Of 10 nongovernmental human rights organizations, 4 actively
monitor human rights cases: the Foundation for Human Rights
Initiatives (FHRI), the Uganda Human Rights Activists, the
Ugandan Law Society, and the Ugandan chapter of the
International Women's Lawyers Association (FIDA). In October
FHRI published the first edition of its journal, The Human
Rights Defender. The Uganda Human Rights Activists publish a
quarterly review of the human rights situation in the country
and have moved toward an educational role in sponsoring
seminars on human rights throughout the country. The Law
Society focuses on human and legal rights and defending the
independence of the judiciary. Members of the Society defend
political figures indicted by the Government. FIDA
concentrates on cases involving women and children. All of
these groups operate without government interference.
In February President Museveni directed that human rights
subcommittees be set up in the RC's in every district to
monitor local human rights violations. A Human Rights Desk was
established in the Ministry of Justice to produce reports from
these subcommittees. The desk has begun functioning but has
not produced any reports.
The NRC created the Uganda Human Rights Commission to
investigate abuses perpetrated before 1986. The Commission has
heard public testimony from over 1,000 witnesses. Its report
is scheduled for release in March 1994.
The Government allows access to international human rights
monitoring groups, but few such groups came to Uganda in 1993.
However, ministers, attorneys (including the President of the
American Bar Association), parliamentarians, and journalists
from a wide variety of countries came to Uganda to investigate
the human rights situation.
Internationally published reports on Uganda's human rights are
given broad publicity in the private and official media.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
Traditional discrimination against women continues, especially
in rural areas. "Customary" laws disadvantageous to women are
still recognized in the areas of adoption, marriage, divorce,
and devolution of property on death. Women may not own or
inherit property or have custody of their children under
customary law. Adultery by men is treated more leniently than
adultery by women. Women cannot sponsor a foreign-born spouse
or the children of such a union for Ugandan citizenship,
whereas foreign women who marry Ugandans and the children of
those marriages automatically receive Ugandan citizenship.
Women do most of the agricultural work but own only 7 percent
of the land.
Domestic violence, including rape, is common, and there are no
laws to protect battered women apart from a general law on
assault. Public and law enforcement officials view wife
beating as a man's prerogative and rarely intervene in cases of
domestic violence. There are an increasing number of public
education projects which emphasize a woman's right to be free
of sexual exploitation, but to date they have had little effect.
The Government has made efforts to redress discrimination based
on sex, including specific provisions in the draft constitution
on women's rights and designating special women's seats in the
Constituent Assembly that is to debate the constitution. A
Ministry of Women, Youth, and Culture was established in 1988,
but it receives the smallest budget of any ministry. The
Ugandan branch of FIDA is currently undertaking a 3-year
research and law reform program focusing on women (1992-95).
FIDA opened a legal aid clinic in Kampala in early 1992 and
provides free legal advice to women. FIDA lawyers also provide
information on Ugandan law to women in rural areas and carried
out a project in writing wills to strengthen women's
inheritance rights.
Children
The Government has severely limited budgetary resources devoted
to child welfare; however, the Uganda National Programme of
Action for Children in the 1990's outlined priorities for
social services development for children and women. The
1993/94 budget report by the Ministry of Finance noted the
importance of primary education; health programs such as infant
immunization, malnutrition, and disease and diarrheal control
for children; a sensitization campaign for the public about the
rights of children; resettlement of children from orphanages,
and continued rehabilitation of children's custodial
institutions.
Child abuse continues to be a problem in Uganda. A 1990 law
defined the age of a minor victim of defilement as 13. In 1993
the NRC amended the law to cover all minor children under 18.
Accusations of defilement and prosecutions under the law occur,
but convictions and punishment are rare. The press reports
regularly on cases of defilement, with victims, mostly girls,
of increasingly younger ages. Observers attribute the growing
number of reports of child beating and molestation to the
breakdown of the traditional village family structure and to
stresses induced by economic problems, alcohol abuse, and
social dislocations. A Ugandan chapter of the African Network
for Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect
formed in 1993 and began an educational campaign on the issue.
Female genital mutilation (circumcision) is not widespread, but
some communities in eastern Uganda subject young females to
it. There is no law against the practice; the Government is
working to stamp it out through education. An international
seminar in September, including the Government and the World
Health Organization among its sponsors, publicly condemned the
practice.
A large number of children have lost at least one parent to war
or disease; the number of orphans is thought to exceed 1
million. These children migrate to towns and trading centers
and may be treated roughly by police or employers. Corporal
punishment is not condoned by the Government but is common in
some schools.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Africans of about 40 ethnic groups constitute the vast majority
of the population of Uganda, with tiny percentages of Asians
and Europeans. Asians, expelled by former president Idi Amin
in the early 1970's, are returning to Uganda under the current
Government's policy of adjudicating claims to confiscated
property. Ethnic divisions between Bantu-speaking peoples in
the south and Nilotic speakers in the north have been
aggravated by civil conflict since Uganda's independence.
However, only a few minority populations have truly suffered
discrimination, such as the Bakonjo of the Ruwenzori Mountains,
who were once slaves within the traditional kingdoms, and the
Karamajong, independent cattle herders in eastern Uganda
described as violent and underdeveloped by other Ugandans.
Neither of these groups participates fully in Ugandan society,
government, or educational institutions.
People with Disabilities
The Government has not legislated accessibility for the
disabled. The proposed Constituent Assembly is slated to have
one representative for the disabled. Provisions to protect the
disabled are included in the draft constitution. Widespread
discrimination by society and employers limits job
opportunities for those with physical disabilities; most are
self-employed or are beggars. Educational opportunities,
however, exist for those who can afford standard school fees.
A small office within the Ministry of Local Government tries to
assist disabled Ugandans, but it is hampered by lack of funding.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Ugandan labor law is undergoing major reform. Uganda has
adopted a tripartite (government-employer-worker) cooperative
approach to labor issues. The Government, in the midst of
structural adjustment, is reviewing its laws and institutions
in the labor field and vetting them with the International
Labor Organization (ILO). In 1993 civil servants were
permitted to join and form unions, a right previously reserved
for private sector workers. Certain categories of government
employees are still not permitted to form unions; these include
the police, army, permanent secretaries in the ministries,
heads of departments and state-owned enterprises, school
principals, and other management level officials.
The National Organization of Trade Unions (NOTU), with 15 labor
unions, is the only labor federation in Uganda. Proposed
legislation will reaffirm a single umbrella organizational
system, but will not prevent multiple unions within individual
industries. NOTU is independent of the Government and
political parties. It publishes a periodic newspaper on labor
issues, NOTU Speaks. NOTU's influence on the overall economy
remains marginal since about 90 percent of the Ugandan work
force consists of peasant farmers. Even among industrial
workers, high communications costs and lack of transportation
have made it difficult for individual unions to organize,
especially outside the major commercial centers of Kampala and
Jinja.
The right to strike is recognized by law, but the Government
expects all efforts at reconciling labor disputes to be
exhausted before workers resort to strikes. They must first
submit their grievances and notice to strike to the Minister of
Labor. Under the Trades Disputes Arbitration and Settlement
Act, an Industrial Court hears trade disputes referred to it,
either by the Minister of Labor or the parties to the dispute.
NOTU has proposed that the right to strike be recognized in the
future constitution. There is no law prohibiting retribution
against strikers.
At least 14 strikes occurred in 1993, including: African
textile mill workers and Sanwa electrical workers in April;
the magistrates in Mbale in May; the Uganda Cooperative
Transport Workers, lecturers at the National Teachers' College,
Uganda Fisheries Enterprises workers, and Uganda Polytechnic
lecturers and students in June; doctors and workers at the
Kyamulibwa Medical Research Center in July; Nyanza textiles
workers in August; laborers at the Kakira Sugar Estate and
Crown Bottlers factory in September. In September workers of
GM Combined Uganda Ltd. (a detergent company) struck for
payment of salary arrears, and workers of Match International
went on strike for nonpayment of wages. In October workers at
the Mandela Freedom International Stadium at Namboole went on
strike demanding higher wages. The Uganda Cooperative
Transport Workers Union sponsored the largest strike in 1993.
Violence followed unsuccessful wage negotiations at the Kakira
Sugar Estate, when some strikers burned over 2,000 acres of
sugar cane and destroyed machinery. The only strike that
resulted in higher wages was that of the Kakira Sugar workers.
A tripartite committee composed of NOTU, the Federation of
Ugandan Employers, and government ministries is reviewing
Uganda's labor legislation. The Cabinet passed on to the NRC
draft laws on employment and workers' compensation. Other
legislation on industrial trade unions, a minimum wage, social
security, disputes and arbitration, occupational health and
safety, and hygiene were in various stages of review at year's
end. "Labor" is slated to elect two representatives for seats
in the future Constituent Assembly.
NOTU freely exercises the right to affiliate with and
participate in regional and international labor organizations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The right to organize and bargain collectively is recognized by
law and established in practice. On July 31, the law giving
workers the right to form unions was liberalized to include
civil servants and Bank of Uganda employees.
Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, employing 80
percent of the population. The modern sector employs only an
estimated 400,000 persons. The Government is the largest
employer in the country. According to the 1988-89 census,
about 20 percent of all workers in Uganda are unionized. While
unionization and collective bargaining are common in the
industrial wage sector, they are much less significant in the
agricultural sector. A National Union of Plantation and
Agricultural Workers exists, but the vast majority of small
cultivators organize themselves on the basis of cooperatives
for the purpose of selling their crops. Union officials are
not harassed, and unions have access to the tripartite
Industrial Court. However, the Court suffers from lack of
resources, and some of its decisions have been overruled by the
Government. There is no law prohibiting antiunion
discrimination by employers.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Compulsory labor is prohibited by law. There is evidence,
however, that forced prison labor is employed on private farms
and construction sites. There are no reports of forced labor
in export industries.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Although employers are prohibited from employing workers below
the age of 18, many children are employed in the informal
sector out of economic necessity. There is no child labor in
the formal sector or export industries. The Ministry of Social
Services is charged with enforcing the law on child labor.
There are no minimum education requirements.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
No explicit minimum wage policy exists in Uganda. Wages are
set by negotiation between unions and employers or by the
boards of directors of state-owned industries. Wages in
general are low, and many civil servants and other workers find
second jobs, grow their own food, or engage in pilferage or
corruption in order to feed their families and pay school fees.
Although there is no legal maximum workweek, the normal
workweek is 48 hours, and time and a half is paid for each
additional hour worked. The only occupational health and
safety legislation in place is contained in the outdated
Factories Act of 1954, which concentrates on engineering
aspects of work and does not address many present-day working
hazards. It is enforced by the Ministry of Labor's Department
of Occupational Health, but in practice little inspection takes
place due to lack of resources. A proposed law on occupational
health and safety was sent to the ILO in Geneva for review in
1993.
[end of document]
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