The United Nations' human rights office in Uganda will close this weekend after the East African country decided not to renew an agreement allowing it to operate, the UN's top human rights official said Friday.
The closure comes amid concern over human rights violations including extrajudicial killings in Uganda and a new law that prescribes the death penalty for some homosexual acts. The office in Kampala will formally cease operations on Saturday, while sub-offices in Gulu and Moroto closed at the end of June and on Monday respectively.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern about the situation in Uganda ahead of elections in 2026, given an “increasingly hostile environment” for human rights defenders, journalists and others, his office said. He noted that most of the 54 nongovernmental organizations that were “arbitrarily suspended” two years ago are still closed.
He also warned Uganda against backsliding from its commitments under human rights treaties, including with the “deeply discriminatory and harmful anti-homosexuality law, that is already having a negative impact on Ugandans,” his office said.
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