By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – Three journalists working for the sole independent daily newspaper in Uganda were charged with sedition last week for alleging that the Ugandan government is training soldiers for the police force.  Managing Editor Bernard Tabaire, Sunday Editor Henry Ochieng, and Senior Political Writer Chris Obore were summoned following the publication of a story in last Sunday’s paper alleging that at least 40 Ugandan soldiers were being trained for senior posts in the police force.

Many see the army as loyal to President Yoweri Museveni while the police force is largely seen as political opposition.  The story that ran last week argued that the government is attempting to militarize the police in order to gain greater control.  Obore told the AP that the state was trying to make an example of him and his fellow reporters. “They want to subjugate the freedom of the press and stop us writing objectively.  Through us, they are sending the message that, if you write objectively like this, the next step is the police station.”

Police spokeswoman Judith Nabakooba denied that there was any political motivation behind the arrest, and that the story is “alarming and not factual.”

On Friday, the International Federation of Journalists called on the government to withdraw the charges.  The Director of the IFJ office in Africa said that article was a “balanced and professional piece of work.”

The issue of freedom of the press in Uganda is not a new one.  Last month, the newspaper’s political editor resigned as a result of compromised editorial freedom. Papers have been raided in search for information on political opposition.  A radio station was threatened with closure if they continued to discuss the trial of an opposition leader.  The government blocked portions of a website that was critical of the President last year.

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – 3 Ugandan journalists charged with sedition – 1 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Three Journalists Face Sedition Charges Over Article on Alleged Military Control of Police – 5 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Observer Journalists Partially Freed – 5 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Police Grill Three Monitor Editors – 2 October 2007