TRIAL OF OPPOSITION LEADER IN UGANDA

Motion Text

That this House notes with grave concern the ongoing trial of the main Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye, the decision by the Ugandan authorities to produce as a state witness a former Lords Resistance Army commander, Mr Onen Kamdulu, the payment of £1 million as legal fees to a top private British law firm to lead the prosecution in a case that carries the death penalty, the re-arrest and continued detention of Dr Besigye's co-accused, who have twice been given bail by the High Court, and the declaration by the Presidential Adviser on Military Affairs, General David Tinyefunza, that `the army will not respect High Court rulings because the judges were hiding under their beds when the generals were fighting in the bush war' that brought Museveni to power; fears that as a result Dr Besigye may not receive a fair trial; and calls on the UK Government to work with its allies in the European Union, the Commonwealth and the United Nations to ensure that the trial conforms to the international standards, treaties and conventions to which Uganda is a signatory.