Uganda president signs law bringing back military trials for civilians

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law an amendment allowing military tribunals to try civilians under certain circumstances, the country’s parliament said on Monday. 

The Supreme Court had called such trials unconstitutional in a ruling earlier this year. Judges had argued that military courts were neither impartial nor competent to exercise judicial functions. 

The Ugandan parliament passed an amendment last month to address some of these issues, despite boycott from opposition lawmakers, who said the new bill violated the Supreme Court decision. 

Human rights activists have long accused the Ugandan government of using military courts to persecute opponents of the president.  

Yoweri Museveni has spent close to 40 years in power. His aides have denied rights groups' accusations and said only civilians who use guns for political violence were prosecuted in such tribunals. 

"The law will deal decisively with armed violent criminals, deter the formation of militant political groups that seek to subvert democratic processes, and ensure national security is bound on a firm foundational base", army spokesperson Chris Magezi wrote on X after the bill was passed in May.

In a recent high-profile case, the military trial of opposition leader Kizza Besigye was transferred to a civilian court after the January Supreme Court ruling. 

Ugandan courts could still intervene against the new law if they receive a citizens' petition.