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Government fails to reach agreement with Besigye

The government on Tuesday failed to settle out of court a case with former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye in which he alleges violation of his freedom of movement, the government-owned ‘The New Vision’ reported. The newspaper quoted a spokesman for the government as saying they had offered to compensate Besgiye for the “inconvenience” caused to him, but did not accept that his rights had been violated. Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Chairperson Margaret Sekagya was quoted as saying: “In this case we have not been able to bring the parties together.” Besigye had filed a complaint to the UHRC after the chief of military intelligence refused to allow him to travel to South Africa on 17 March, ‘The New Vision’ said. The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, one of Uganda’s foremost human rights organisations, in July criticised the government’s treatment of Besigye and strongly condemned the authorities’ “intolerance and disrespect for divergent views”. Besigye had also been arrested on 30 June while travelling to southwestern Uganda to attend celebrations marking the election of his wife, Winnie Byanyima, to parliament. Following his detention in June, Besigye was linked by President Yoweri Museveni to a number of bomb attacks carried out in Kampala following the March presidential elections.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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