U.S. Mission to International
Organizations in Geneva

U.S. Statement on Uganda at the Universal Periodic Review 40^th session

As delivered by Delaney Felker, Foreign Affairs Officer

The United States appreciates Uganda’s longstanding policy of open borders for refugees seeking safety, including ongoing efforts to support individuals from Afghanistan relocated by private organizations. However, we remain concerned about worsening restrictions on civic space.

We recommend that Uganda:

1. Lift ongoing suspensions of civil society organizations to contribute to promoting and protecting freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association;

2. Pursue a full accounting of the violence and killings committed leading up to the 2021 elections, particularly enforced disappearances and the November 2020 actions of security forces, to ensure accountability and build public trust in institutions; and

3. Ensure respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons, including by ending the use of forced anal examinations on them.

Thank you.