East Africa Law Society Says Takes Uganda To Court To Stop Internet Censorship In Region

By taking the government of Uganda to court over shutting down the internet, the East Africa Law Society is trying to preserve the rights of people in the region and make sure that other countries from going down the same path, the society's acting chief executive officer, David Sigano, told Sputnik

JOHANNESBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th March, 2021) By taking the government of Uganda to court over shutting down the internet, the East Africa Law Society is trying to preserve the rights of people in the region and make sure that other countries from going down the same path, the society's acting chief executive officer, David Sigano, told Sputnik.

According to the law society, on January 13, a day before the general election, Uganda, imposed a complete internet shutdown within its borders. This prompted the law society on March 12 to file a reference with the East African Court of Justice, a regional judicial body, seeking to establish that the Ugandan government violated the law and provide compensation for those inconvenienced by the shutdown.

"While the focus is right of access to information, the Society has the mandate to ensure respect and implementation of all other fundamental rights and freedoms for the people of East Africa. The final role of the Reference is to ensure other East African States are deterred from applying the same illegal measures of internet censorship and control," Sigano said.

The official mentioned that another core purpose of the reference was to advance rule of law and good governance in the region.