Uganda orders LGBTQ rights organization to shut down

Seven human rights groups were ordered shut ahead of Ugandan elections

Anthony Masake, executive director of Chapter Four Uganda. (Photo courtesy of X / Twitter)
Chapter Four Uganda—a respected, non-partisan human rights organization known for defending marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ people—has been ordered to cease operations by the Ugandan government, along with six other human rights organizations.
Uganda’s National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations suspended its permit on Jan. 9, citing vague claims of activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Chapter Four focuses on criminal justice, gender-based violence, labor and employment rights, and access to information.
Six other organizations suspended at the same time, according to the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, include the Alliance for Election Finance Monitoring, Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda, The National NGO Forum, The Center for Constitutional Governance, The National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, and The African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims.
The suspensions came six days before Uganda’s Jan. 15 election and shortly before the government temporarily cut off Internet access in the days before the election.
Nile Post reported:

This development marks the latest clash between the Ugandan government and civil society groups, raising fresh concerns about shrinking space for dissent and human rights advocacy in the country…
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The move comes on the back of the recent arrest of Sarah Bireete, the Executive Director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, a prominent civil society organization involved in constitutional advocacy, governance, and civic engagement, an incident that has intensified scrutiny of the government’s relationship with rights groups and reinforced concerns about increasing pressure on civil society actors perceived to be critical of the state.

Sarah Bireete.(Photo courtesy of Facebook)
The U.S.-based Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center condemned the suspension of Chapter Four.
“The weaponization of vague laws and attacks on the right to freedom of association during electoral periods directly violate the right to vote,” said Ikechukwu Uzoma, Senior Staff Attorney at the Kennedy Human Rights Center. “Such repressive actions undermine the integrity of elections and weaken democracy at its core. All stakeholders, including the African Union, must act now.”
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled for four decades, was declared the winner of the election, with a reported 72 percent of the vote. Challenger Bobi Wine, with a reported 25 percent, alleged those figures were fraudulent returns that resulted from “ballot stuffing.”