By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor and Tristan McConnell in Kampala
The TimesOnline
Museveni: facing criticism
PRESIDENT MUSEVENI of Uganda faces growing criticism from his fellow Commonwealth leaders because of his regime’s increasingly harsh treatment of the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye.
As the Commonwealth summit opens in Malta today, with talks supposed to focus on world trade, diplomats there said that the abuse of power by the veteran Ugandan leader was becoming the issue of the summit.
Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, wants the meeting to examine human rights failures among the 53 member states, and Uganda is fast becoming the most serious issue on the table.
“There is disquiet,” a British official said. “Many are asking whether Uganda is an appropriate host for the next Commonwealth summit in 2007.”
Tony Blair and other Commonwealth leaders, particularly those of Australia and Canada, are expected to raise the matter with Mr Museveni when the heads of government hold talks today.
But the Ugandans show no signs of compromising. As Mr Museveni flew in to Malta, the authorities in Kampala stepped up moves against Dr Besigye, who was arrested this month on charges of treason and rape.
This time Dr Besigye, Mr Museveni’s former ally and physician, was hauled before a military court martial and charged with terrorism and illegal possession of arms. At times the proceedings became almost farcical. General Elly Tumwine, the chairman, charged two of Dr Besigye’s defence lawyers with contempt of court for talking out of turn.
Then Stig Barlyng, the Danish Ambassador and the representative of Western governments, was thrown out of court.Mr Barlyng argued that he was permitted to observe by Ruhakana Rugunda, the Minister of Internal Affairs, but General Tumwine replied that the minister “does not control this court”.
Dr Besigye hopes to oppose Mr Museveni in next year’s elections, as he did in 2001. His supporters in the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) claim that the trial is designed to prevent Dr Besigye from being eligible to stand.
Salaamu Musumba, the FDC vice-president, called on Commonwealth governments to take action against Kampala. “Uganda should be thrown out of the Commonwealth as there are no Commonwealth traditions that we are emulating in this country,” she said.
Liam Fox, the Shadow Foreign Secretary, last night added his voice to calls for Dr Besigye to be released immediately. “Tony Blair and Jack Straw must urgently press the Ugandan Government to respect democracy and the rule of law,” he said. “Nobody should be under any illusions about the seriousness of the situation in Uganda.”
In Kampala, the court- martial proceedings were adjourned until this morning. As Dr Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, left the court she called out: “Kizza Besigye is going to be condemned to death by a kangaroo court.”
An armed escort then took Dr Besigye to the High Court for his delayed bail hearing. A crowd that had gathered outside the court martial cheered Dr Besigye and waved his party’s two-fingered salute as the prison bus attempted a three-point turn in the narrow road. Central Kampala was cordoned off by police, who had expected another day of mass rioting by opposition supporters. However, people heeded the warning given on Wednesday by Mr Rugunda not to take to the streets. Media outlets have been threatened with closure if they discuss Dr Besigye’s arrest and trial.
At the High Court Judge James Ogoola adjourned the bail hearing until this afternoon to allow the court martial to proceed. He managed to restore some faith in the impartiality of the judiciary when he banned members of the armed forces from his courtroom.
Dr Besigye can face a court martial under a law allowing those accused of taking up arms against the state to be charged in a military court. Dr Besigye, a former Museveni loyalist, is also a retired colonel in the Ugandan army. The return of Dr Besigye from exile last month was seen as a sign of greater democracy in Uganda, which is preparing for its first multiparty elections in March.
MUSEVENI'S TARNISHED IMAGE:
Founding member of Front for National Salvation, which helped to oust Idi Amin.
Praised for bringing relative stability after civil war and for responding to HIV/AIDS.
Took power in 1986 and introduced Movement politics, based on democratic principles.
Became darling of West; described as head of new breed of African leaders by Bill Clinton.
2001 election victory tainted with increase in violence.
Image marred by role in civil war in Democratic Republic of Congo.
Amended constitution this year to allow himself to have a third term, despite vowing that he would not stand again.
Urbane Analysis:
This is a tepid response from the same governments which were "frozen in the headlights" by violence in Rwanda a scant ten years ago. The western powers have been sitting on their hands regarding Uganda's misadventures in the Congo - a situation which only a scant amount of media investigation WILL show has been all about profit for Museveni's family and cronies. One cannot help but notice that Kampala is awash in tropical hardwoods: subsistence level workers in roadside stands build furniture throughout the city. Many Ugandans talk about the source of this wood - since Uganda logged out its own "old growth" hardwoods years ago - it now comes from the Congo. And this plunder is a profitable line of business for Ugandan military commanders while maintaining a zone of influence in the lawless country to Uganda's west.
It is all about pillage and plunder.
So western powers are silent about Uganda's "big stick" policies violating the sovereignty of its neighbors. These are the same governments who say they are all about effecting change in Africa - but were powerless in response to the violence in Rwanda (a tiny country right next door to Uganda) a decade ago. And these same western powers have not exerted one iota of muscle in check of the Ugandan regime's ever-increasing "shake down" of aid organizations working on behalf of the desperately poor. When you talk with non-governmental organizations (NGO) groups operating in Uganda - doing the work of tackling poverty, the tales of frustration and outright crime against them by the government of Uganda - through corruption that has increased and become worse and worse to the point of causing some to shut down in Uganda - has trumpeted loud and clear where the regime is headed. This has been clear long before these latest outrages against democracy itself in Uganda.
Why wouldn't Museveni take these actions, since the western powers have been impotent on a whole range of issues leading up to this?
It is time for the U.S. and E.U. powers to get serious about what is about to happen in Uganda - BEFORE they are caught in the headlights of powerlessness like they were in Rwanda in the 1990's. A senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Kampala told me "(t)his place is alway twelve hours away from meltdown. All it takes is a couple of colonels to go 'off the reservation' and this place is back to total tribal factionalism."
So the question becomes: are we going to just sit and watch that happen?
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