Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has officially signed into law a controversial amendment that will once again allow military tribunals to try civilians under specific conditions. This development, announced by the country’s parliament on Monday, directly contradicts an earlier Supreme Court ruling that had deemed such trials unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court judges had previously argued that military courts lacked both the impartiality and competence required to exercise judicial functions. However, despite a boycott from opposition lawmakers who contended the new bill violated the Supreme Court’s decision, the Ugandan parliament passed the amendment last month, aiming to address some of these legal ambiguities.
This move is particularly concerning for human rights activists, who have long accused the Ugandan government of leveraging military courts as a tool to persecute political opponents of President Museveni.
President Museveni, who has been in power for close to 40 years, has seen his administration’s aides consistently deny these accusations from rights groups. They maintain that only civilians who engage in political violence involving firearms are prosecuted in these military tribunals. However, the reintroduction of these trials is likely to reignite debates about due process and human rights in Uganda
“The law will deal decisively with armed violent criminals, deter the formation of militant political groups that seek to subvert democratic processes, and ensure national security is bound on a firm foundational base”, army spokesperson Chris Magezi wrote on X after the bill was passed in May.
The military trial of opposition leader Kizza Besigye was recently moved to a civilian court, following the Supreme Court’s ruling in January.
Despite the new law, Ugandan courts retain the power to intervene if they receive a citizens’ petition.
