Kampala, 31st August, 2018; Another journalist has suffered brutality at the hands of the army in what looks like a targeted attack against journalists covering protests related to the arrests and detention of opposition Members of Parliament who participated in the recent Arua Municipality by-elections.
Today there were protests in Kamwokya against the decision by security forces to bar Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu alias Bobi Wine and Francis Zaake Members of Parliament for Kyadondo East and Mityana Municipality respectively from traveling abroad to seek medical treatment.
Joshua Mujunga, a photojournalist working with NBS TV was covering operations by the Police who had been deployed to quell the protests along Old Kiira Road, where some youths had lit tyres along the road.
“I was donning on my press jacket, which clearly identified me as a journalist but still the soldiers pounced on me and beat me up with sticks despite my plea that I was a journalist. They forcefully deleted the video footage from my camera. I am in severe pain on the head and arms” Joshua told the HRNJ-Uganda team at Kampala Hospital, where he is admitted.
The attack comes hardly a week after HRNJ-Uganda team met with the army leadership to condemn the brutality by the army on journalists and demand that it brings the perpetrators of the violence to face the law, so that justice is served.
On 21st August 2018, journalists Ronald Galiwango and Juma Kirya of NTV, Julius Muhumuza of Dream TV, Alfred Ochwol of the Observer and James Akena a photojournalist with the Reuters News Agency sustained body injuries and bruises as a result of the beating by army officers.
“These are indeed trying times for the media in the country in face of such dreadful attacks by security forces, but we call upon the media to be resilient. The urge the media owners to speak out against this horrific clampdown on media freedom..” Said the HRNJ-Uganda Executive Director Robert Ssempala
