US State Department publishes 2007 Uganda human rights report

The US State Department released its 2007 Uganda human rights report this week, part of a series of reports mandated by the US Congress on country-specific human rights situations around the world. The Uganda brief says that security and human rights conditions have “improved significantly,” but that the Ugandan government’s human rights record “remained poor.” The report finds that no LRA abductions or killings occurred in the north last year, though unlawful killings and other abuses by military forces (often not held accountable) continued. Continued drought, insecurity and human rights abuses have displaced over 700,000 people in Karamoja. One of the report’s most shocking findings is the impunity perpetrators of gender-based violence enjoy – women and girls fear reporting rape and abuse, and many cases which do get brought to court remain unresolved. A disturbingly high rate of harassment and abuse of independent journalists and opposition politicians also occurred throughout the country. Read the full Uganda brief here.