Blair to press Ugandan leader on human rights
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will press Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to ensure fair trials for his main political opponent, who has been charged with treason and terrorism, Blair’s spokesman said today in Malta.
Blair’s spokesman said that because the seating at the Commonwealth summit in Malta was arranged alphabetically, Blair and Museveni were next to one another. The spokesman said Blair would use that opportunity to urge due process in the Kizza Besigye case.
Museveni scheduled a news conference on the summit sidelines for this afternoon. Uganda is due to host the Commonwealth’s next summit.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said leaders at the three-day summit were concerned about human rights violations in Uganda and would raise them in talks with Museveni, who has ruled for 19 years.
Uganda’s military has charged Besigye with terrorism and illegal possession of firearms. Last week civilian prosecutors accused him of treason.
Besigye, who returned from exile last month, has mounted the strongest challenge to Museveni’s rule.
The Commonwealth has “concern over what we perceive to be significant breaches and violations” in human rights, McKinnon told reporters on the eve of the summit.
The Commonwealth had pushed Uganda “very hard toward multiparty democracy,” McKinnon said.
