Link to Article: https://www.voanews.com/a/ugandan-award-winning-writer-released-on-conditional-bail/6411485.html
Summary: Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, an award winning author, was recently released after being held for a month. The crime he was imprisoned for was insulting the president’s son. Kakwenza’s lawyer has alleged that he was tortured while in custody. The lawyer describes his health condition as frail adding that he is a torture victim. However not much more is said as one of the conditions of Kakwenza’s bail is a ban on all parties and lawyers not discussing the matter in the media. While in detention Uganda’s leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga visited Kakwenza and said in a tweet that he say scars and other evidence of torture. This also not the first time Kakwenza has been imprisoned he was previously arrested in April 2020 for his novel, The Greedy Barbarian, which is a fictional writing of high-level corruption and then another time in September of 2020 for writing a novel that detailed torture.
Analysis: This story really shows the stark difference between the freedoms granted in America and how they aren’t granted elsewhere. The fact that he was arrested multiple times for speaking out against what he sees as a corrupt government is very different to how freedom of speech is handled in America. Another place of major difference is how he in treated while detained. He was horribly tortured just for speaking out against the President’s son. This is something that many would consider a human rights violation. This is something that human right organizations such as Amnesty International should work to bring to light to hopefully stop this type of behavior. This really highlights how human rights are not respected everywhere and how we can fight to change that.
How this relates to class: This is an example of a modern day human’s rights violation and we have talked about multiple organizations that work to stop these violations. Amnesty International is known for exposing human’s rights violations and bringing them to light for all to see. Which will hopefully prompt those who are able to, to speak out and call for an end of this type of treatment. The UN also has a mission statements and goals to help bring human right’s violations to an end. The UN isn’t a military force however so their options of action are limited to diplomatically working to put an end to human right’s violations.