Research and advocacy organizations in Uganda that deal with controversial topics are facing increasing harassment by Uganda’s government. Groups have recently faced forced closure of meetings, threats, harassment, arrest, and punitive bureaucratic interference. The Ugandan government should end its hostile rhetoric and repeated obstructions of nongovernmental organizations.

The Uganda parliament should significantly revise the draft Public Order Management bill, which would drastically restrict freedom of assembly and expression. Despite pressure from the executive to pass the bill in its current form, key recommendations from parliament’s Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee should be used to guide revisions before the bill is presented for a vote.

The Ugandan government’s declaration on April 4, 2012, that an activist group that has led protests against the government is an “unlawful society” is deeply troublingoday. The action against Activists for Change (A4C) was taken ahead of a planned demonstration on April 5.

Legal and organizational issues that have emerged during Uganda’s first war crimes prosecution pose challenges for Uganda in seeking to ensure justice for victims of the most serious crimes. Uganda’s early experience may provide relevant information to other countries seeking to hold domestic trials for serious crimes committed in violation of international law – genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.