Six human rights defenders, Mr. Gerard Kankya, Mr Dan Rubonbora, Mr William Gonza, Mr Prosper Businge, Mr Joram Bintamanya and Mr Stephen Rwagweri, team members and volunteers of Twerwaneho Listeners Radio Club in the Rwenzori Region of Uganda have been facing sustained acts of intimidation and judicial harassment since January 2007. The Twerwaneho Listerners Radio Club is a legally registered radio programme which broadcasted programmes on human rights-based issues which aims to hold public leaders more accountable.

Further Information

Since January 2007 members of the Twerwaneho Listeners Club have been subjected to ongoing threats, attacks on their property and judicial harassment. As of May 2009, Gerard Kankya, Dan Rubonbora, William Gonza, Prosper Businge, Joram Bintamanya and Stephen Rwagweri had appeared eighteen times in court, charged with defamation, inciting violence, and creating public anger against the goverment. This latest court case was initiated on 14 January 2008 and despite the numerous court appearances, no progress towards a resolution of their case has been made due to repeated adjournments of the trial resulting from the failure of state witnesses to attend hearings, the revision of legal charges against the defenders, the failure of the prosecution to present the alleged evidence against the defenders and the refusal of state witnesses to be cross-examined in chambers. As a result of the delays in the case, the aforementioned defenders have been forced to travel repeatedly to Rwenzori Region from other parts of the country, suspend their activities at the radio programme and pay mounting legal costs for their defence team.

In January 2008, Gerard Kankya, Dan Rubonbora, William Gonza, Prosper Businge, Joram Bintamanya and Stephen Rwagweri were arrested, detained and charged as detailed above. The radio programme was banned from air by the Regional Police Commander. Following their release, in a separate case the men successfully sued the state for unlawfully banning the radio programme in breech of their right to freedom of expression. The court ruled in favour of the human rights defenders and ordered that programming be reinstated. Despite the Court´s orders the police and internal security officers continued to intimidate the radio management so that no programmes would be aired. It is believed that the Government also influenced the indefinite suspension of William Gonza and Gerald Kankya from their work.

Throughout 2007, the Twerwaneho radio club received warnings to cease broadcasting “anti-government” transmissions from the state functionaries such as the internal, regional and district security organs and the national rulingparty districtchairman. One radio station was forced to suspend transmission of Twerwaneho club programmes and when another station invited the club to air the programmes on their radio station, they too received threats. These threats were targeted at the owner of the radio station, pastor K.L Dickson of Kabarole Christian Fellowship who was warned of the consequences of carrying the Twerwaneho programmes. In August 2007, President Museveni made a serious warning to the radio panelists and threatened to deal with them strongly. In October 2007, after the owner of the radio station had defied state orders to ban the Twerwaneho programmes, the station was attacked and radio transmitters burned by armed men believed to be members of the Uganda People’s Defense Force. Front Line is concerned that the sustained acts of intimidation and judicial harassment against Gerard Kankya, Dan Rubonbora, William Gonza, Prosper Businge, Joram Bintamanya and Stephen Rwagweri and the de facto suspension of the Twewaneho club broadcasts are directly related to their legitimate work in the defense of freedom of expression in Uganda. Front Line is deeply concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Gerard Kankya, Dan Rubonbora, William Gonza, Prosper Businge, Joram Bintamanya and Stephen Rwagweri.