Government publishes anti-terrorism bill

The Ugandan government has proposed a new law which, if enacted, would impose a mandatory death sentence on anyone found guilty of taking past in terrorism, 'The New Vision' reported on Monday. The Suppression of Terrorism Bill, yet to be tabled for approval in parliament, seeks to give the Ugandan High Court the power to try persons for alleged terrorist offences committed inside or outside the country. According to the government-owned newspaper, the bill states that "any person who engages in or carries out any act of terrorism commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be sentenced to death". The bill also aims to give police extraordinary powers to carry out surveillance on suspected terrorists, including interception of their telephone calls, e-mails and other communications, 'The New Vision' said. President Yoweri Museveni in July called for the extradition from western countries of leaders of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), accused of carrying out some 40 bomb attacks in Uganda since 1997, in order to face trial in Kampala. "We have decisively defeated the ADF in the west [of Uganda], arrested all the urban terrorists, and we are now seeking to extradite the ADF leaders abroad," he was quoted as saying in parliament on 29 July. The Ugandan government, however, has offered amnesty to all present and former rebels who peacefully surrender to the authorities.