Police are mandated to protect all, including journalists

By the end of 2011, Human Rights Network for Journalists –Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) had recorded more than 80 cases of journalists who had been mistreated by the Uganda Police Force while covering events at various locations within Uganda.

In January alone, HRNJ-Uganda has documented seven cases of reporters subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by police officers as they covered events.

What is most worrying is the pattern of these cruel police actions against the journalists. The mistreatment ranges from inflicting body injuries, targeted beatings, illegal arrests, and temporary detention, confiscating and retaining of cameras, recorders and deleting gathered information. Police have in some instances summoned journalists threatening to prefer charges against them for reports they have made.

This is what we observed and documented last year and early this year. It has happened in Kampala, Pader, Lira, Masaka, Jinja, Mbale and other parts of the country.

In one of the incidences documented this year, a senior police officer based in northern Uganda, told a journalist that “if we can beat international journalists in Kampala what about you?!” It took the intervention of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces before the accused journalist could get his camera that had been forcefully taken by police.

Argue

The police argue that they cannot identify journalists from other people while executing their duty and encourages them to have press jackets. Unfortunately, journalists with press jackets have attracted more police wrath than a bee to honey. A Kampala radio reporter donning his well-labelled press jacket, was this month clobbered by three policemen as he tried to cover developments at Kiira Road Police Station. His colleagues without jackets escaped.

We are flabbergasted when we endlessly witness police roughing up journalists to confiscate their equipment and destroy their captured data and shooting at journalists in the course of their work like in the cases of (Uganda independent newspaper) Daily Monitor photojournalist Isaac Kasamani, Radio Simba reporter Christine Nabatanzi and Gideon Tugume, a reporter with Capital FM.

There have been incidents of journalists’ harassment by the police under circumstances which are not chaotic and everyone is identifiable. In these circumstances, police have preferred to detain journalists under trees, tied with ropes like goats. We have documented such cases.

The police actions have had a chilling effect on journalists. While executing their duties, journalists have to avoid confrontation with the police in order not be injured, beaten or their tools confiscated and information destroyed. It is extremely difficult to record and report the true account of events as they happen. The institution that is supposed to provide protection is a source of harm, intimidation and harassment.

Wanton acts

These wanton acts of police are serving no other purpose than denying the public their rights and freedoms to access information. Ugandans are empowered by the Constitution to receive and impart information and the police have a duty to ensure that this right is observed and upheld. The police have a constitutional mandate to protect all Ugandans and preserve law and order. This mandate should not be applied selectively. Journalist must be protected like any other person.

We are aware that the Police Force has received considerable support from the development partners namely Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Peoples Republic of China and the US. We believe that this support is not inclusive of the media suppression and harassment tactics the police are applying.

The development partners should intercede on behalf of journalists over the Uganda Police to stop mistreatment of the media, otherwise we would be forced to assume that they are accomplices to these acts that injure journalists and deny Ugandans freedom.

We strongly believe that they would not tolerate such behaviour in their countries.

Ssebaggala is the programmes coordinator- Human Rights Network for Journalist-Uganda. First published in the Daily Monitor