Jurist HRW condemns a proposed bill in Uganda criminalizing “foreign agents”

[Dadparvar]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday warned that a new bill before Uganda’s parliament could be used to shut down civil society and has compared it to a similar Russian foreign agents law. HRW warns that this bill threatens to limit freedom of speech and assembly.

Bill 13, the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, was introduced on April 15 for its first reading. The bill criminalizes activity that promotes “the interests of a foreigner against the interests of Uganda.” Its broad provisions include prohibiting carrying out activities “related to the implementation of Government policy,” and receiving money to organize meetings about foreign policy. Violators can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

To avoid the consequences of the bill, you would need to register as a foreign agent through a yet undefined process. Doing so would permit the Internal Affairs Ministry to inspect the agent’s “premises” without a court order.

Senior Africa researcher at HRW, Oryem Nyeko, said that:

The Protection of Sovereignty Bill is the latest example of the government’s efforts to stifle dissent and inhibit political or social organizing and participation. The proposed bill copies a repressive tool used by other abusive governments to crush exercise of rights and stigmatize human rights defenders, independent media and other dissenting voices.

The new legislation comes following an election which saw the government crackdown on opposition parties. In the lead-up to the January elections in Uganda, an internet shutdown was imposed, which HRW claims violated fundamental rights and election integrity. Furthermore, on January 8th, the director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance and a vocal critic of President Yoweri Museveni’s administration, Sarah Bireete, was arrested and charged with unlawfully obtaining or disclosing personal data. Finally, Ugandan security forces targeted opposition rallies with excessive force, including the use of tear gas, pepper spray, and beatings, leading up to the election.

The bill is similar to others passed around the world, modeled on the 2012 Russian foreign agents law. In 2024, the Georgian parliament enacted its law, On Transparency of Foreign Influence, despite wide scale protest against the bill. Kyrgyzstan and El Salvador both passed legislation which have been criticized by human rights organizations. A similar law has also been proposed in Hungary.

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