Dear friends and colleagues,

Happy new year! As we leave 2020 behind us, I wish to reflect on our activities and events that had an impact on the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the East and Horn of Africa sub-region in December of last year.

Together with the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, Uganda (NCHRD-U) we hosted the 9th edition of our annual flagship eventClaiming Spaces, to commemorateInternational Human Rights Defenders’ DayandInternational Human Rights Day, celebrated every 9 and 10 December respectively. We brought together over 250 vital human rights voices for a week filled with panel discussions and workshops to equip them with tactical tools.

As a hub for exiled HRDs, Uganda hosts a wealth of diverse human rights voices. Our latest report,Open the Doors! Towards Complete Freedom of Movement for Human Rights Defenders in Exile in Uganda, examines exiled HRDs’ freedom of movement in Uganda and serves as an educational tool, outlining the process ofobtaining a Convention Travel Document.

In December, we also publishedguidelinesto strengthen HRDs’ safety, security, and well-being during election periods, available inEnglish,French, andArabic. Election periods are challenging times, in which many African nations experience pre- and post-election violence. HRDs are at a high-risk for potential attacks, as we saw with thearrestof prominent human rights defender Nicholas Opiyo and the lawyers Odur Anthony and Esomu Simon 23 days before Uganda’s general elections on 14 January. We reiterate our commitment to continue safeguarding HRDs so that independent voices can continue their crucial work.

I look forward to work with you in 2021 to ensure that human rights are respected and upheld.

Yours in solidarity,

Hassan Shire
Executive Director, DefendDefenders

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Human Rights Defender of the Month: Foni Joyce

Foni Joyce has engaged in humanitarian work since the age of 20, when she joined a refugee student organisation to amplify the voices of refugees. Originally from South Sudan, Foni grew up as a refugee in Nairobi, Kenya, but she makes it clear that ‘refugee’ is merely a legal definition: "I firstly define myself as a human being who has been uprooted.”

Labelling and numbering creates fear and leads to a loss of interaction, Foni says: "Numbers are useful to show the intensity and impact of a conflict, but when we talk about 70 million refugees, most people think about 70 million people taking up resources or opportunities. We forget that behind every number is a human being. A mother, a father, a brother or sister, whose voice needs to be heard regardless of their status.”

• That 9 December is International Human Rights Defenders’ Day? We celebrated at Claiming Spaces withImpact Awards, recognising outstanding Ugandan HRDs.
• And that Human Rights Day, 10 December, marks the end of 16 days of activism? To finish our 16-day social media campaign against online gender-based violence (GBV),#SayNoToOnlineGBVwe published apolicy briefand held a training for survivors of online GBV in Kampala, Uganda.

Updates from the East andHorn ofAfricasub-region:

• The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decided toendspecific reporting on Burundi, noting improved security and "broadly peaceful elections.” The move wascriticisedby human rights groups, as grave violations continue to persist.
  
• On 24 December, the fourIwacu journalists, who had been imprisoned for a year, received a presidential pardon and were released.

• Human Rights Watch reports that the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region has taken aheavy tollon civilians. Amnesty Internationalwarnsthat the region is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations is striving to get a team on the ground toinvestigatealleged human rights violations that could amount to war crimes.

• Rusesabagina remains in prison, following his return to Rwanda, whilst his family is trying to get him back to the US. Rusesabagina intends tosuethe Greek airline that allegedly transported him to Rwanda against his will and under false pretences.
  

• The government of Somalia has been accused ofviolatingthe basic freedoms of locals in Beledweyne following the arrest of over 30 community activists amid increasing protests against the regime of President Farmajo.
  

• South Sudanese authorities havefailedto stem or investigate the appalling abuses by the country’s National Security Service, according to Human Rights Watch. Arbitrary and abusive detentions, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and illegal surveillance remainwithout accountabilityor justice for victims.

• With only weeks left to the end of the mission’s mandate, Amnesty International called for anextensionof the peacekeeping mission to Darfur in early December. Government forces failed to protect civilians in recent months, according to the organisation.
• On 21 December, Human Rights Watch concluded that Sudanese authorities usedexcessive force, including lethal force, against protesters on October 15, 2020.
• Young activist Bahaeldin Nouri wasabductedby unidentified armed men in Khartoum on 22 December. The following day his family found Nouri’s body, showing visible signs of torture. Protests erupted and Rapid Support Forces officers were questioned.

• 20 December marked one year since Tanzanian HRDs Tito Magoti and Theodory Giyani werearrested. Magoti’s employer, the Legal and Human Rights Centre, believes he was arrested for his activism.
  
• An Australian ex-Muslim women’s rights activist faces "politically motivated”chargesin Tanzania, including for a tweet allegedly critical of the country’s president, according to her supporters.
  

Uganda:

• Various human rights actors have called on Uganda toendthe wave of human rights violations and abuses ahead of its 14 January elections, such asarrest, detention, and judicial harassment of opposition members.
• On 22 December, renowned HRD Nicholas Opiyo wasarrestedon allegations of money laundering. It is the latest act in a series of intimidations ahead of the elections and likely politically motivated. He has since beenreleasedon bail.
  
  

Estella Kabachwezi
Senior Advocacy and Research Officer, DefendDefenders
on advocacy@defenddefenders.org or +256 782 360 460
(English)

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