Uganda hosts over one million refugees, primarily from South Sudan and the DRC. In June, the UN and Uganda sought at least $2 billion to support refugee assistance but raised significantly less.
In April, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors in The Hague, completed their case against alleged former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen, charged with 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ongwen’s defense began its case in September. Two ICC warrants remain outstanding for the arrest of Joseph Kony, long-time LRA leader and Vincent Otti, who is presumed dead.
Lack of Accountability for Torture, Extrajudicial Killings
In March, John Martin Okoth Ochola was appointed Inspector General of Police. His predecessor, Kale Kayihura, was arrested three months later, brought before a military court and charged with failing to protect war materials, failing to supervise police officers and abetting the kidnap and forced repatriation of Rwandan refugees. He has been released on bail but charges remain pending.
On February 14, five unidentified men wearing military uniforms seized Charles Etukuri, an investigative journalist with New Vision, outside the newspaper’s Kampala offices days after he published an article linking Internal Security Organisation agents