Over the next year, 15 different elections will take place
across the African continent. Six of the forthcoming elections will be held in
East Africa where, from Tanzania to Sudan, a wide range of legal tools
hindering freedom of association have recently been put in place by the authorities.
In Uganda, human rights defenders themselves are
increasingly under threat. For instance, Gerald Kankya, Executive Director of
the Twerwaneho Listeners Club (TLC), an organisation that combats unlawful
evictions from public land, has recently been the target of physical and
judicial harassment.
In Kenya, following the attack in April 2015 by the islamist
militant group Al Shabaab on Garissa University College in the north-eastern
part of the country, human rights organisations have been the target of
government repression. Haki Africa and Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI), which
advocate for constitutional means to counter terrorism while respecting human
rights, have reportedly suffered judicial harassment.
In Tanzania, a new statistics
law that makes it illegal for any publications to claim data as
"official" if it has not been approved by the National Bureau of
Statistics and also a cyber-crime law that punishes the electronic publication
of "unsolicited" information and an access to information act which
criminalises the spreading of "false" information. The Tanzanian
media has had its hands tied by the establishment of a media council that
determines which journalists and media outlets are permitted to operate. Under
these circumstances, civil society is left with no choice but self-censorship.
Freedom of association and expression are cornerstones of
any democratic society.
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