Ugandan police open fire on protesters

[Hannah Bell]

Police have opened fire on protesters in Uganda and imprisoned many in recent days. Two people were reported to be dead and 90 were treated for injuries in the Ugandan capital of Kampala on Friday. One of those killed was a two-year-old girl. There have been two weeks of protests over rising food and fuel prices.

Friday’s demonstration was a response to the arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye the previous day. Besigye, who leads the Forum for Democratic Change, has organised a series of “walk to work” protests. It is the fourth time he has been arrested in the last month.

Further demonstrations were reported on Monday. The police arrested a number of prominent oppositionists, and a total of 102 people are said to have been imprisoned...

President Museveni has been in power since 1986. Britain and the United States identified Museveni as representing a new generation of African leaders who embodied what they described as an “African Renaissance”. Museveni led the National Resistance Army that overthrew President Milton Obote. As a guerrilla leader, he had always claimed to be a Marxist. But on coming to power he adopted neo-liberal economic policies and imposed a structural adjustment programme drawn up by the IMF. His government has privatised state enterprises and encouraged foreign investment...President Museveni recently extended the limit on presidential terms, allowing him to stand for re-election. His February victory will mean that by the time his latest term of office comes to an end he will have been president of Uganda for 30 years.


http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/ugan-m03.shtml

[Hannah Bell]

1. uganda is a US ally. No outrage over this "dictator killing his own people"?

[Hannah Bell]

2. why aren't we bombing uganda? where's the UN?

[Hannah Bell]

3. answer: none of the "friends of freedom" give a shit unless it's an "official enemy".

which is what makes their speechifying so vomitous & sick-making one can hardly bear to listen to it. the mendacity is so thick and nauseating.

[maddezmom]

4. UPDATE 1-UN rights boss criticises Uganda protest crackdown

GENEVA, May 1 (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights official urged Uganda on Sunday to stop using "excessive force" against demonstrators, which she said had turned peaceful protests over food and fuel prices into a national crisis.

Eight people have been killed and more than 250 treated in Kampala's Mulago hospital for injuries during three weeks of unrest in the East African country, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.

The treatment of opposition leader Kizza Besigye during his latest arrest was "shocking" and it was reported that he has not yet fully recovered his sight after being hit at point-blank range with pepper spray on Thursday, she said.

"The excessive use of force by security officers was plain to see in the television footage of the event. While I do not condone the violent rioting that followed, the Ugandan authorities must realise that their own actions have been the major factor in turning what were originally peaceful protests about escalating food and fuel prices into a national crisis," Pillay said in a statement. Continued...

more:http://af.reuters.com/article/ugandaNews/idAFLDE7400C420110501

[Hannah Bell]

9. i expect the no-fly zone is soon to follow. it was being discussed the first week in libya.

[joshcryer]

11. UN resolution 1970 was 10 days after it began, UN resolution 1973 was a month after it began.

Again with the fact checking.

[Hannah Bell]

12. can you read? i said "it was being discussed". btw, protests have been ongoing since 4/11 so

the un is a bit late in responding, there should have been a resolution & no-fly zone by now.

[maddezmom]

13. the UN has been responding....

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/752527

[joshcryer]

15. She wants a NFZ in particular, even though it's not useful there. It will go more like Ivory Coast.

But you have to understand that all conflicts are exactly the same, etc.

[joshcryer]

14. He's not using tanks and arty on the protesters there. Don't know what good a NFZ would do.

[Hannah Bell]

16. lol.

[maddezmom]

5. America asks Uganda to respect protestors

Posted Sunday, May 1 2011 at 00:00

The United States government yesterday asked President Museveni’s government to respect the right of all citizens to peacefully express their views as enshrined by Uganda’s Constitution.

In a statement issued at the peak of the protests that have left at least 10 people dead and the opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, deaf and blind, the Barack Obama administration through the US mission in Kampala said: “Ugandan authorities must avoid using excessive force against civilians in this situation (of quelling the protests).”

While it is evident that the proposed talks between President Museveni and the opposition are unlikely to take place due to what the opposition described as government “hypocrisy”, the Obama administration said: “Constructive dialogue is needed now. The US government urges all sides to begin serious and useful discussions among senior leaders to calm the situation.”

more:http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1153722/-/c259d8z/-/

[joshcryer]

6. LOL, a day ago for both the US and UN.

Don't expect fact checking from the OP.

[Hannah Bell]

8. freeeeeeeedooooooooooommmmm

where are lieberman & mccain?

they were calling for intervention the day after the first libya protests.

where's pnac in their new guise?

josh, why aren't you rallying our freedom-loving troops here?

and in honduras, where more than a dozen teachers have been killed for demonstrating for their pension rights?

[Hannah Bell]

7. where are the peacekeepers? why aren't we bombing him? regime change!

btw, the freedom fighters here at du seem to have lost interest in egypt.

[joshcryer]

10. Well see if Museveni escalates things. Being in power 25 years, he may not want to let go.

[Gravel Democrat]

18. consistent:

con·sist·ent  (kuhn-sis-tuhnt) –adjective

1. agreeing or accordant; compatible; not self-contradictory: His views and actions are consistent.

2. constantly adhering to the same principles, course, form, etc.: a consistent opponent.

3. holding firmly together; cohering.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consistent

"In logic, a consistent theory is one that does not contain a contradiction.<1> The lack of contradiction can be defined in either semantic or syntactic terms. The semantic definition states that a theory is consistent if it has a model; this is the sense used in traditional Aristotelian logic..."

Try it, you might like it

Or, not...

If "we" had a King, "we" wouldn't have to trouble our little minds with such concepts. Would we. His Majesty would decide when "we" went to war, and which companies would get bailouts and which civilians would be called "collateral damage" and who "we" target to kill without a trial.

It would be so much easier and everyone would have less stress, having left complicated decisions to those more qualified...


Wouldn't you agree?

[joshcryer]

19. It really depends upon Kizza Besigye and what sort of popular support he is getting.

As of now it is mediocre at best.

Museveni has no reason to escalate things and likely will not to the extent Gaddafi did.

Other than that your post makes little sense.

[Capitalocracy]

17. Took a hard right after taking power?

Sounds like Paz in Bolivia, Menem in Argentina, Obama...

K&R (Edit: To zero.)