UN Human Rights Council – 39^th regular session
Item 2: General debate on the oral update by the High Commissioner

Oral statement delivered by Hassan Shire.

Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner,

DefendDefenders associates itself with the statement delivered by Human Rights Watch, and endorsed by over 750 organisations. We congratulate you on your appointment as High Com­mis­sioner and reiterate that the current climate highlights the need for a strong public advocacy role for your mandate in the defence of human rights and the international human rights system, as well as a strong role internally within the UN to mainstream respect for human rights.

We will address Burundi, Djibouti, South Sudan, Sudan, and Soma­lia under dedicated items. We are particularly worried about the negative steps Tanzania and Uganda have taken in recent months.

In Tanzania, while we welcome the granting of a license to Jamii Forums, we call on the govern­ment to cease any form of intimidation, harassment and attacks against human rights defenders, journalists, bloggers, and opposition members and their suppor­ters, and amend laws and regu­la­tions to bring them into line with international human rights standards. We make particular refe­ren­ce to the Electronic and Postal Communications Act (2010) and Online Content Regulations (2018), the Statistics Act (2015), the Cybercrimes Act (2015), the Me­dia Servi­ces Act (2016), and the Access to Information Act (2016).

In Uganda, we witnessed a dramatic crackdown on civic space as protests rocked the nation following the August 2018 Arua by-elections characterised by violence. Security forces responded to demonstrations with excessive force, killing three. Several journalists covering the events, and detainees have made allegations of torture.

Thank you for your attention.