(RSF/IFEX) – On 21 March 2002, RSF urged the Ugandan government not to implement its new anti-terrorist law until clauses jailing journalists for up to ten years for “encouraging terrorism” are removed from the legislation. “This vague charge could be used against journalists who are deemed too critical of the authorities,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 21 March 2002, RSF urged the Ugandan government not to implement its new anti-terrorist law until clauses jailing journalists for up to ten years for “encouraging terrorism” are removed from the legislation. “This vague charge could be used against journalists who are deemed too critical of the authorities,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. “The law must be made clearer in order to avoid future abuses.”
According to information received by RSF, the Ugandan Parliament passed the new law on 20 March. It provides for stiff penalties against journalists who write articles deemed to have encouraged terrorism. The new law will only be applicable once it is officially announced by President Museveni. Under the new law, the government will have the power to dub any organisation a “terrorist group”. The new law already describes as “terrorists” several rebel movements in northern Uganda that have been fighting the government for the past few years. Anyone found guilty of acts of terrorism or funding terrorist organisations can be sentenced to death under the new law.
