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Ref: EALS/PS/2/03 1. HIS EXCELLENCY YOWERI KAGUTA MUSEVENI PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA AND CHAIRPERSON OF THE EAC SUMMIT OF HEADS OF STATE 2. THE HON. SPEAKER, EAST AFRICAN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 3. THE SECRETARY GENERAL EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIAT

Date: 28th May 2013

STATEMENT OF PROTEST AT THE ARBITRARY AND UNLAWFUL CLOSURE OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA INSTITUTIONS BY THE STATE IN UGANDA THE EAST AFRICA LAW SOCIETY (EALS) is the umbrella regional Bar Association of the legal profession in East Africa. It is a dual membership organization that brings together the six national Law Societies of: the Burundi Bar Association, the Kigali Bar Association, the Law Society of Kenya, the Tanganyika Law Society, the Uganda Law Society and the Zanzibar Law Society; as well as their respective individual membership. The EALS works to promote the Observance of and adherence to the Rule of Law, Democracy and Good Governance; and to enhance the professional knowledge and skills of its membership. The EALS enjoys formal Observer Status with the East African Community. THE EALS HAS NOTED WITH WORRY AND CONCERN the recent closure and indefinite blockade of a number of independent media houses by the government of Uganda, that initially commenced as a lawful search sanctioned by a court warrant for a letter authored by the Coordinator of Intelligence services in Uganda that alluded to allegations of plots to assassinate leading military and political figures. Having failed to trace the letter, the police and military have since blocked off the office premises of the Monitor and Red Pepper publications denied the staff access to their offices; and disabled the transmission equipment of two independent radio stations, KFM radio and Dembe FM. The police have since christened the affected media houses premises as crime scenes in what appears to be an attempt to justify their continued lockdown, but remain characteristically silent on what crimes the affected media houses are alleged to have been complicit in; despite cancellation of the initial search warrant by the Court that issued it on the grounds that the police overstepped the legal Rule of Law and Justice for all in an Integrated East African Community Page | 1

mandate and ambit of the search warrant. The police has also effectively ignored a court order compelling them vacate the Monitor premises to by claiming that they are studying it for over 5 days. THE EAST AFRICA LAW SOCIETY IDENTIFIES with the 23rd May 2013 statement by the Uganda Law Society (hereto attached) condemning the actions of the Government of Uganda in this matter, and calling on the Government to cease its blockade and shut down of the independent media houses; but feels constrained to add its voice because the Government has since not honoured the content or spirit of that statement. THE EAST AFRICA LAW SOCIETY; TAKES STRONG EXCEPTION to the arbitrary, illegal and impervious manner in which the police forces have blockaded the Monitor Publications Office; and shut down the offices of KFM and Dembe FM against an existing court order that the blockade and shut down are unlawful. CONDEMNS the continued suppression of the freedom of expression, the right to information, and the individuals right to decent work and employment in pursuance of a decent standard of living by a country that has ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights as well as the African Union Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa and the African Union Resolution on the Situation of Freedom of Expression in Africa. DECRIES the apparent impunity and total disregard of the Rule of Law by a country that is presently the chair of the East African Community Summit of Heads of State and the Council of Ministers; and is one of the original signatories to the East African Community Treaty that upholds observance of the rule of law and respect of human and peoples rights as some of its fundamental principles. The fact that the Ugandan Government continues to disregard lawful court orders in the shadow of an ongoing plenary of the East African Legislative Assembly in Kampala speaks to the vast conceptual rift between what Uganda has committed to under the East African Community Treaty relating to the respect of the rule of law and protection of investments within the country on the one hand; and its political willingness to honor those obligations on the other. IS CONCERNED that the legal and political uncertainty occasioned by a government that has little respect for the judiciary entails an unpredictable business environment that will disadvantage the East African Regions rating as a choice destination for external investment, and frustrate the EAC blocs objective of improving the economic and social welfare of East African citizens. AND HEREBY 1. Calls on His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda to prevail upon the security forces to adhere to and respect the Court order to withdraw from the premises of the Monitor and Red Pepper publications, KFM and Dembe FM and to permit them to operate freely. 2. Reiterates to his Excellency the President of Uganda that a free, independent and pluralistic media environment is crucial in a democratic society because it acts a forum for the public to Rule of Law and Justice for all in an Integrated East African Community Page | 2