Human rights lobby groups have announced plans to hold protests in Nairobi on Friday, February, to push for the release of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and other political detainees in Uganda.

This comes at a time when Besigye’s health condition is deteriorating after going on a hunger strike a week ago, according to his allies. 

In a joint statement, the lobby groups claim that a fresh wave of abductions and forceful arrests of government critics have emerged in Uganda, allegedly sanctioned by President Yoweri Museveni’s administration.

“As of yesterday, there was a brazen abduction, and overnight there were four abductions, all of them violent, but the one that has made it to the press is that of Fred Nyanzi, who was abducted by gunmen,” Lawyer Andrew Karamagi, a member of the group’s legal team, said during a press briefing in Nairobi.

Led by Amnesty International, they announced a plan to match the Ugandan Embassy in Nairobi peacefully. 

Amnesty’s regional researcher, Roland Ebole, expressed concerns over deteriorating health condition of Besigye even as he faulted the Ugandan government for promoting what he termed as culmination of years of human rights abuses and disregard to the constitution.

“Despite the Supreme Court and legal applications for their release, Ugandan authorities have disregarded our courts and continue to arbitrarily deprive them of their liberty,” he said. 

“We take this opportunity to invite all to join us in a march to the Uganda High Commission in Nairobi and the National Assembly on February 21, to present a petition for justice for Dr. Kizza Besigye, Hajj Obeid Lutale, Eron Kiiza and others unlawfully detained,” said Steve Mbugua, LSK Council Member. 

“The conviction of lawyer Eron Kizza by General Court Martial for “contempt of court” and sentencing to nine months’ imprisonment without a fair trial is brazen targeting of a lawyer in the line of duty,” he added. 

Other rights organisations that joined Amnesty during the media briefing included, among others, Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Vocal Africa, Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)-Kenya, East Africa Law Society and Change Tanzania Movement. 

Vocal Africa’s Hussein Khalid said an abduction in Uganda is an abduction in Kenya and Tanzania, maintaining that they will not relent in pushing for respect to human rights by the regional governments. 

“Our march on February 21, is to communicate. We want to bring people together to speak as one, East Africans,” he stated. 

Besigye, who was reported to have been on hunger strike for a week, has since been returned to prison after being in a clinic on Sunday night, according to his allies. 

Earlier, his lawyer Erias Lukwago wrote on Facebook that the 68-year-old was rushed to a private medical facility in a prison ambulance as his health was deteriorating. 

When he visited his opposition comrade in prison on Monday, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine said prison officers blocked them from seeing Besigye as he was very weak.

Tuesday marked the 18th day since the Supreme Court ruled that trying civilians in military courts was unconstitutional, declaring that Besigye be tried in a civilian court.

The Ugandan Martial court is, however, yet to heed to the ruling. 

Museveni dismissed the calls to have his once personal doctor turned critic freed saying, that would mean “promoting insecurity which is dangerous to the country.”

Instead, he urged Besigye and allies to demand for a quick trial. 

“If you are innocent, why do you not demand for a quick trial so that you can prove your innocence and expose those who are ‘persecuting’ you instead of demanding bail, forgiveness, as if serious crime is also entitled to holidays?” he wrote on X on Tuesday. 

Museveni added: “There is a government hospital in prison, Dr. Besigye’s personal doctors have been visiting him and even taking him to private clinics. If there was a need for any additional medical care, the government would be advised.” 

Besigye was forcefully arrested on November 16, when he visited the Kenyan Capital to attend the launch of a book by Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua.

Barely a day later, his allies and wife would break the news of Besigye’s disappearance, revealing harrowing details of how the opposition chief was apparently lured to meet his abductors, said to have disguised themselves as Kenyan security agents.

Besigye was charged in a military court with illegal possession of a firearm, threatening national security, as well as treason, which carries the death sentence, accusations that he denies. 

Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland has also waded into the matter, expressing his disappointment with Uganda as a “long-standing and much-valued” member of the organisation over the reports on human rights violations, calling for immediate release of those “improperly detained.”  

“We are therefore saddened and deeply troubled by the continued detention of Dr Kizza Besigye, Haji Obeid Lutale and Eron Kiiza, which undermines the ruling of Supreme Court of Uganda and the principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law,” Scotland said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The groups also called upon the Kenyan government to investigate and end alleged abductions and renditions of foreign dissidents within its borders. 

“We call on Kenyan authorities to acknowledge that abductions and renditions have been committed in Kenya, potentially constituting crimes under international law and should promptly, thoroughly, impartially and transparently investigated and those suspected of responsibility prosecuted,” said Maria Sarungi who represented Change Tanzania Movement and a victim of abductions in Kenya.