This roundtable will discuss the content of a report produced by TASSC International, following interviews of 20 torture survivors in Uganda, as well as more than 300 reports of torture, by torture survivors, their family members, and citizen journalists in Uganda.
A statement based on this report has been presented at the 68th Session of the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights.
Panelists:
Chloe Hale: TASSC International
Discussing: Summary of the report: Torture in Uganda-The Tragic History, Impact and Current Reality under the Museveni Regime
Chloe Hale is a TASSC Consultant, she has collected and documented more than 300 reports from torture survivors, their family members, and citizen journalists in Uganda regarding the practice of torture by the Government of Uganda before, during, and after during January 2021 Ugandan Presidential elections. She has also conducted thorough interviews with 20 survivors of torture in Uganda and collected forensic and other evidence.
Jeffrey Smith: Vanguard Africa
Discussing: The Ugandan youth engagement in the struggle for democracy and the Ugandan Government violent response
Jeffrey Smith is the Founding Director of Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit organization launched in 2016 to help build and promote democratic solutions for African nations. He is also co-creator and producer of The Resistance Bureau, a podcast on democracy that spotlights the leaders at the forefront of the struggles for freedom. Mr. Smith has over a decade of experience building democracy promotion campaigns, including prior positions at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Freedom House, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (IDASA), and UNESCO. He has been honored multiple times for his work, including by the Government of The Gambia as a Champion of Democracy, and was named among the Top 40 Under 40 Professionals by the Washington Business Journal in 2018.
Oryem Nyeko: Human Rights Watch
Discussing: The status of Human Rights in Uganda, an overview of 2020 Human Rights Report on Uganda
Oryem Nyeko is the Uganda and Tanzania researcher in the Africa division. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, he worked with the International Center for Transitional Justice and was a Communications and Advocacy Team Leader at the Justice and Reconciliation Project in Gulu, Uganda. Recently he was an Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability Fellow at Columbia University.
Torture Survivors in Uganda
Moderator:
Léonce Byimana: TASSC International
Léonce Byimana is the Executive Director of the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) in Washington, D.C., and a clinical psychologist who holds an MPH. Dedicated to human rights, he previously served in the role of program director for the Western New York Center for Survivors of Torture at the Jewish Family Service of Buffalo and Erie County. He also worked for organizations such as Clinton Health Access Initiative, Delagua Health/UK, Handicap International, and Partners in Health. Mr. Byimana holds a postgraduate degree in Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution from the School of International Training. Leonce specializes in government-involved torture and other human rights abuses.