The 2021 Press Freedom Index Report
The 2021 Press Freedom Index Report launched today by Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, pinned security agencies as the most violators. The well attended colorful function was held at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
Attendees were shown video clips of journalists who have been brutalized by security operatives, who include police officers and the army. Most of the victims are still nursing the wounds as well as psychological torture.
The victims include Pidson Kareire of The Drone Media, Taaka Conslata, a freelance journalist from Luweero; Irene Abalo of Daily Monitor; Josephine Namakumbi of NBS TV; Henry Ssekanjjako of Vision Group and John Cliff Wamala of NTV.
This edition of the PFI is defined by a series of media shutdowns and shut outs. Right from the beginning of the year, the media was shut out from major electoral events, internet access was shut down, a media house was shut down by UCC, and the army shut out the media from covering events at the OHCHR.
The devastating effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic also resulted into the shutdown of a television station.
The report states that the police and the state continued to rely on overly restrictive laws to interfere with practice of journalism. That several journalists were charged with archaic offences under the penal code Act even when some of these have since been struck off by courts of law.
That in the year 2021, the Human Rights Network for Journalists –Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) received and recorded a total of 131 cases involving human rights violations and abuses against journalists and media practitioners.
The reported cases involved assaults, unlawful arrests, confiscation and in some cases damage of equipment, blocked access, physical and cyber-attacks.
The continued abuses and violations of press freedom and media rights is responsible for the decline in Uganda’s ranking under the World Press Freedom Index from number 117 in 2018 to 125 in 2021. This report seeks for Press Freedom redress. The culprits should be denied opportunities of going abroad since they choose to torment Uganda journalists.