Paris-Geneva, May 27, 2015 – The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights defenders (a joint programme of FIDH and the World Organisation against Torture – OMCT), welcomes the decision of Fort Portal’s Magistrates Court to dismiss the case against human rights defender Gerald Kankya and urges authorities to stop harassing human rights defenders in Uganda.
Following the failure by the prosecution to produce any complainant or witnesses despite six hearings, on May 20, 2015 the Magistrates Court of Fort Portal dismissed the case against Mr. Kankya, prosecuted under charges of “simple assault”. Arrestedon March 24, 2015 and afterwards released on bail, Mr. Kankya was being accused of assaulting a journalist [1].
Executive Director of the Twerwaneho Listeners Club (TLC), since 2006 Mr. Kankya has been working to combat unlawful evictions from public community land. TLC broadcasts weekly programs on human rights education, performs capacity building to enhance the ability of human rights defenders to carry out their activities in the region, provides civic education, monitors and documents human rights violations, and challenges unlawful governmental actions in court.
Lately, TLC has been running a petition campaign to the President Mr. Yoweri Museveni against the Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Nursery, Primary and Vocational School, a private commercial project developed on land grabbed from illegal expropriations. In 2012, Mr. Gerald Kankya received the European Union Human Rights Defender Award in Uganda. Read more
Executive Director of the Twerwaneho Listeners Club (TLC), since 2006 Mr. Kankya has been working to combat unlawful evictions from public community land. TLC broadcasts weekly programs on human rights education, performs capacity building to enhance the ability of human rights defenders to carry out their activities in the region, provides civic education, monitors and documents human rights violations, and challenges unlawful governmental actions in court.
Lately, TLC has been running a petition campaign to the President Mr. Yoweri Museveni against the Queen Mother Best Kemigisa Nursery, Primary and Vocational School, a private commercial project developed on land grabbed from illegal expropriations. In 2012, Mr. Gerald Kankya received the European Union Human Rights Defender Award in Uganda. Read more
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