A GROUP of eleven female opposition lawmakers have been arrested during a protest over alleged police brutality against women. The legislators, dressed in black, took to the streets on Thursday morning to voice their dissatisfaction over what they claimed is a violation of the rights of women and a threat to their lives, which they say also violates the Constitution.
Scuffles erupted between the women and police as the legislators tried to make their way to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. One of the lawmakers, Joyce Bagala, spoke about some of the women’s grievances, highlighting an incident where one of her colleagues was allegedly roughed up by police during a recent Women’s Day event.
‘Susan Mugabi was beaten, was tear-gassed,’ Bagala said. ‘There were bullets fired. Her sister was beaten, fondled by police officers. Almost undressed her. Her mother was also arrested ahead of the celebrations. Her father was locked in the house. So, all these violations.’
Bagala also mentioned that she herself was tear-gassed and blocked from holding Women’s Day celebrations in her constituency. Police officials were not immediately available for comment, but they were meeting with the speaker of parliament at the central police station where the legislators were being held.
The female opposition legislators are asking for parliament and the internal affairs ministry to acknowledge that the actions of security officers in blocking Women’s Day celebrations were illegal, irrational, and an affront to the right to associate and assemble. They also want all local district authorities involved in the assault on the legislators to be individually prosecuted before courts of law and security agencies to be restrained from blocking any other meeting or assembly permitted by law.
This incident has sparked concerns about the safety of women in Uganda and the ability of opposition lawmakers to voice their dissent freely. As of now, the detained lawmakers had not been released, at the time of posting this story.
