Erias Lukwago, lawyer for Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, unlawfully seized by the military, leaves a court in Kampala, on June 22, 2026, having been remanded into custody, on charges related to representing his client.
(Nairobi) – Uganda’s military is arbitrarily seizing government critics, holding them incommunicado, then handing them over for bogus prosecutions, Human Rights Watch said today. These actions are an apparent effort to silence and curtail all opposition and the independent media.
Since mid-June 2026, security forces have unlawfully seized at least five critics of President Yoweri Museveni and his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF). The army has also raided and is laying siege to the country’s largest independent media company, forcing it to cease operations because of negative coverage of the president.
“President Museveni’s government is increasingly using the military as a cudgel against dissent and criticism,” said Carine Kaneza Nantulya, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “They should stop using security forces to take out critics and instead respect Uganda’s Constitution and Ugandans’ rights, security, and due process.”
On June 15, armed soldiers raided the home of Erias Lukwago, a lawyer, in Kampala, the capital. They unlawfully seized him and took him to an undisclosed location. Lukwago, who represents an opposition politician, Kizza Besigye, in a bogus treason trial, had been preparing to serve a legal summons on Kainerugaba that day as part of a lawsuit. Kainerugaba had threatened to arrest Lukwago and “whoever serves” a legal summons against him.
Kainerugaba, in a series of posts on X, appeared to confirm that he was unlawfully holding Lukwago, boasting that he had him in a “basement” and sharing a photograph of what appeared to be Lukwago blindfolded.
