{"id":15007,"date":"2025-11-11T09:29:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T07:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/ugadan-police-release-activists-after-a-month-behind-bars\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:27:23","slug":"ugadan-police-release-activists-after-a-month-behind-bars","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ugadan-police-release-activists-after-a-month-behind-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugadan police release activists after a month behind bars\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Two Kenyan activists who were detained in Uganda have been released after more than a month in custody.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">They have alleged been tortured during their 38-day-long detention, a claim that&#8217;s once again put a spotlight on Uganda&#8217;s human rights record ahead of next year&#8217;s elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The activists say their ordeal began in October when they were abducted during opposition rallies in central Uganda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">For weeks, authorities denied holding them until diplomatic pressure from Nairobi led to their release.<br \/>\nUgandan police accused the pair of entering the country illegally to support opposition leader Bobi Wine&#8217;s National Unity Platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span style=\"background-color: var(--global--color-background); color: var(--global--color-primary); font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">But the activists insist they were in Uganda for civic work and had clearance to be in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">They&#8217;ve claimed they were blind folded, beaten, and held in isolation and that they didn&#8217;t think they would make it out alive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">These claims have angered regional rights groups, with many now calling for an independent investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Ugandan police deny the torture claims, saying the men were handled according to local law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The arrests come amid rising political tensions as Uganda heads to the polls next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been in power for almost four decades and is gunning for another term in office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Security forces have been cracking down on opposition rallies and arresting campaign organisers, accusing Bobi Wine&#8217;s supporters of inciting violence, claims the party dismisses as intimidation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Wine is pitching himself as the main contender to take on President Museveni in the polls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":15008,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-15007","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":null,"news_description":"Two Kenyan activists who were detained in Uganda have been released","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19427,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/15007\/revisions\/19427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=15007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}