Our Ref: HURVI Memorandum to President Jacob Zuma, June 2012.
HIS EXCELLENCY JACOB ZUMA
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
UNION BUILDINGS
PRETORIA
Dear Mr President.
RE: MASSIVE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY THE UGANDAN AUTHORITIES UNDER THE DICTATORSHIP OF PRESIDENT YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI.
1 . BACKGROUND
The Human Rights Voice International in South Africa, on behalf of its members from Uganda living in South Africa, submits this Petition to you against Uganda police and military brutality on Ugandans.
This Memorandum is intended to bring to your attention and the government of South Africa the brutality of the Ugandan regime and urge you to urgently reconsider this country’s foreign policy with regard to the government of Uganda and specifically President Museveni. Human rights abuses have permeated all spheres of life for people living in Uganda and even affect some that live outside the country.
2 . CURRENT
The prevailing human rights abuses by the government of Uganda have worsened since the 11th April 2011, when Ugandans embarked on the walk-to-work campaign to express their demands for respect of human rights. The response by Uganda government has been that of systematic and consistent brutality on unarmed vulnerable citizens, with the help of some of the arms and armoured vehicles purchased from South Africa.
Arbitrary arrests, torture and death of opposition supporters, harassment of opposition leaders and intimidation of the general population by the police and military forces are daily occurrences. Media groups, both the local and international, have been at the receiving end too.
All this state brutality using the police and military forces has been widely covered by both the Ugandan and international media as well as many human rights organisations. This was also brought to your attention in a petition handed to your office in May last year by the Uganda Civil Alliance Network (UCAN). The same organisation sent a letter to the South African parliament’s Defence and International Relations portfolio committees in December last year regarding these abuses and the role of South African products in the repression of Ugandans. In both these documents, the situation in Uganda and its broader reach were widely narrated. The situation in Uganda has remained that of despair.
This memorandum adds onto UCAN’s previous documents and seeks to reinforce to you the gravity of the current situation in Uganda.
Furthermore, this brutality has had the consequence of increased influx of Ugandan refugees into South Africa, thereby having a ripple effect on this country’s residents, politically, socially and economically. Sometimes the Department of Home Affairs officials have tended to misread the Ugandan situation when dealing with Ugandan asylum seekers but the reality is that the situation in the country is forcing many Ugandans to flee their country.
Though the country holds elections, Ugandans have lost faith in them under the current arrangement as they are mainly an exercise to put a face to the country’s dictatorship and do not express the true will of the people as has been shown by instability following the previous elections.
3. OUR REQUEST
Your Excellency. as the leader of South Africa, a modern democratic and human rights respecting country, whose democratic principles are underpinned by Human Dignity, Equality and Freedom, we Ugandans wish to emulate these principles in our country, Uganda.
3.1. Your Excellency, we would appreciate if you would address the issue of human rights abuses carried out by the Uganda police and military forces, with President Museveni.
Ugandans want President Zuma to wield a stick instead.
3.2. We request the South African government through you to urgently reconsider/revise its foreign policy and approach when dealing with the government.
3.3. We request that you put a stop to the sale of arms from this country to Uganda because of the misery these arms visit on ordinary Ugandans through the havoc they wreck.
3.4. We request that you review the training of the current Ugandan military personnel in this country.
3.5. We request that under the prevailing situation in Uganda, Ugandan political asylum seekers should be dealt with in relation to the existing brutal political situation in the country.
Your positive take on these concerns of Ugandans and in their struggle for their basic human rights, is a massive step forward in the international contribution to desperate Ugandans to obtain their rights and the same rights as enjoyed in South Africa today.
We thank you very much Mr President.
Convener: Dennis William Kyazze …………………………………………………….
Deputy Convener: Timothy Mugerwa…………………………………………………
Twino Speaks 
mwesigyejoseph
June 9, 2012 at 22:54
It’s very interesting & educative thank you.
Ucan Freedom
June 9, 2012 at 23:10
Very well written, Denis. UCAN also calls upon ICC to investigate and prosecute all those involved in these CRIMES against Humanity as it has done to Charles Taylor!!
agaba
June 10, 2012 at 10:05
Guys, the thugs are prepared to crack even harder! We need to do more than just lamenting, and time is now not tomorrrow.
Ibrahim Yusuf
June 10, 2012 at 18:29
This is so far so good, thankyou all of you(Ugandans) for your noble contributions and efforts in making it a success! As we do all this, the Dictator and his son are having other plans for their perpetual stay in power as an oligarchy with the rest of Ugandans including their poor servants in the kitchen like Mbabazi begging and eating the crumbs that fall off the table!! The dictator’s son in due earnest completed some form of “military strategy” course last Wednesday here in South Africa to which the dictator came for hours to witness;All this on Ugandan tax payers money!! The dictator later flew back to Uganda for the “state of the nation address joke”. This is very crystal clear evidence that the dictator has intentions to have either his son or Wife whoever will be ready to take over power to take it over the monarchy style!! Again this is the more reason why we have to tighten and harden even more, and off-course we must be very courageous and brave and definately victory is ours without any doubt!!The only thing that keeps us waiting is the time factor.
With this all said, i now put forward a very pertinent and necessary question, After this picketing and submission of Memorandum for the second time and after the first Pickett that followed the elections last year, WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD?Some thing different and effective must come in now.
To answer this question myself first, i propose that we call an all Ugandan conference for all of us(Organizations and individuals) opposing this dictatorship and well wishers to chart a serious and strategic way forward towards finally settling the Ugandan question regarding this dictatorship and the damage it has cause to our beautiful country. This conference should be called sooner than later and communicated in a way that will see only opposition organizations and individuals attending.In my opinion this is the best fitting next step forward. It will galvanize and embolden our strive towards a more meaningful and coherent force that is capable of any thing in this struggle. Every struggle of this nature and magnitude starts with nothing but ends with a sweeping wanted change for the people. Don’t forget Socrates words colleagues, that, “One of the penalties of not participating in Politics is being governed by our inferiors”. Indeed i reckon Dictator Museveni is one of the inferiors that Socrates castigated then. He has shown that he is a liar, cheap by changing the constitution contrary to his belief, and directly or indirectly following Gaddafi’s green revolution of Libya by copying not only the exam but even the name of dictator Gaddafi!!
Let us throw all petty issues that may hinder us from achieving this noble cause, all pride, shame and shed all fear so as to make this conference a success; and there you will see, that we are capable of anything and able to do much more than anticipated.Please lets discuss this issue from the bottom of our hearts for the good of our collapsing country. The earlier, the better!!
Thank you very much
For God and My Country
Roberto Kuloba
November 18, 2012 at 19:19
Hey guys, i am really very happy that this small but effective form of Twino exists and has helped to educate and inform Ugandans far and wide in addition to other sites off course!! But it appears Twino is tending to abandon this blog of his by not being as effective and active as he was before!! This has raised concern for me and i feel he had better explain to we the users of this site why he is tending to slumber when we need him even more here?This is not a force but as users we need to be informed of developments.
Twino Speaks
November 19, 2012 at 08:12
You are right Roberto, I have indeed taken a while without writing on my blog. My other business engagements have taken so much of my time such that the blog has suffered in the process. I will however resume the writing.
Kalaa Mataya
December 18, 2012 at 10:12
Its now close to a month since i last commented that the twino’s blog is off air and out of date and still Twino is still so busy with other issues that the Ugandan national matters have to wait. The people of Uganda want to be informed and find a way out for the political imbroglio they are caught up in today! and this forum could add to their information so that they can know what to do with the dictator sooner than later!! Please this is the best gift you can ever give to your beloved country and people, above all the dictator is still holed in there and remains unmoved by the heinous crimes he is continuing to commit against the people of Uganda by the day. “Even the Ocean needs a drop, because without it, it cant exist”. So my man, time is a luxury that we cant afford to risk loosing, make time for any thing that is of value and at heart for you and you will see results come through by the hour. Make time for this blog and we continue discussing issues and developing plans on how to get rid of the unwanted regime in our mother land for the better of our already tired people.