Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa hospitalized after attack by police officers in Naguru
On 24 April 2019 human rights defender Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa was hospitalized as a result of a violent assault by a group of police officers at the main entrance to the Uganda Police Force headquarters in Naguru, Kampala District. The human rights defender, who is seven months pregnant, was attacked while she was trying to obtain permission to organize a peaceful protest against human rights violations committed by security forces.
Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa is an independent woman human rights defender. In recent years, she has defended civil and political rights in Uganda and demonstrated against the imprisonment of human right defender and scholar Dr Stella Nyanzi, who has been detained for the last four months.
On 24 April 2019 human rights defender Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa was hospitalized as a result of a violent assault by a group of police officers at the main entrance to the Uganda Police Force headquarters in Naguru, Kampala District. The human rights defender, who is seven months pregnant, was attacked while she was trying to obtain permission to organize a peaceful protest against human rights violations committed by security forces.
Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa is an independent woman human rights defender. In recent years, she has defended civil and political rights in Uganda and demonstrated against the imprisonment of human right defender and scholar Dr Stella Nyanzi, who has been detained for the last four months.
Over the past few weeks Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa has highlighted police brutality in Uganda. On 28 March 2019, a student at Kyambogo University lost his hand after he was hit by a tear gas canister during a student protest against a new tuition fee policy. Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa publicly condemned the police reaction to the peaceful protests, criticising the use of tear gas and other harmful chemicals to disperse the demonstrators. On 6 April 2019, the human rights defender posted a message on social media seeking signatures for a petition against police brutality.
In the morning of 24 April 2019, police officers at the Uganda Police Force headquarters in Naguru used pepper spray against Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa while she was waiting to be seen by the Inspector General of the Ugandan police. They forcibly removed her from her vehicle, stood and sat on her and dragged her along the ground until she lost consciousness. She was then left outside the Iran-Uganda Hospital in Naguru where she regained consciousness. She was eventually transferred to another hospital where it was discovered that the human rights defender, who is seven months pregnant, had internal bleeding and was suffering from abdominal pain.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the attack against Nana Mwafrika Mbarikiwa and believes that it is an effort to silence her. Front Line Defenders condemns the ongoing human rights violations by security forces and recognises them as part of an effort to clamp down on dissent, specifically against human rights defenders fighting for civil and political rights in Uganda.
