The overall goal of Environmental Defenders’ Environmental Human Rights Defenders and Civic Space program is to strengthen respect for human rights in Uganda by improving the physical and digital security of Women Environmental and Human Rights Defenders (W-EHRDs). The women defenders’ testimonies gathered here, from workshops held in the Albertine region, show why that work matters.
A Challenging Year for Women Defenders
2020 has been a challenging year, and W-EHRDs working in the Albertine region agree:
“Human rights activism amidst the Covid-19 pandemic has been compromised. Our organization’s activities have been affected given the increasing police brutality and the hostile environment, yet human rights defenders are required to work from home to avoid infections. This has exposed many of us to new risks as we have to adapt to the changing world. So, we have to change the way we protect both our information and, more especially, our lives from the dangers that arise as a result of our work. We will ensure maximum security protocols are implemented, especially during this time when the election is taking place with more abuses.” — Woman environmental human rights defender, workshop participant, Albertine region, 2020
Threats On and Offline
These words come from women we met in workshops we organized in several districts during the second half of the year. Many of the training participants were involved in environmental monitoring and in reporting crimes related to illegal logging. They have faced a range of threats, including the threat of arrest, eviction from their offices, illegal forced eviction from their homes, sexual assault, and defamation and hate speech on social media from local political leaders seeking to tarnish their names and their work. They have also seen their online communications intercepted and have been questioned about what they posted on social media and what they said on radio. Some of them work with people evicted from their land by oil companies:
“We once organized meetings with Project Affected Persons (PAPs), whose land was taken by the oil company without fair compensation. We wanted to meet the PAPs and hear their grievances, but we were told to stop the meeting within 15 minutes on the allegation that we were inciting violence. This has given us fear and a sense of threat in carrying out our work as a civil society organization.” — Woman human rights defender working with communities affected by oil projects, Albertine region, 2020
A Holistic Approach to Security
We believe it is urgent to focus on digital and physical security, risk assessments, and psychosocial wellbeing to meet the challenges W-EHRDs face and to make their organizations more resilient so they can continue their human rights advocacy. We have seen how important it is to take this holistic approach to safety and to build it into every action we take. Read our appeal for the protection of women environmental human rights defenders and learn about the security risks defenders face when documenting land rights abuses.
“I have had the chance to attend this kind of training before, and I know how crucial it is. Some of us now have passwords that would take decades to hack, so I made sure this training was brought here to help us gain more knowledge. I encourage my fellow participants, especially journalists, to take it seriously. I know it will help us a lot.” — Workshop participant, Albertine region, 2020