KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – Ugandan police confronted popular opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine during their online news conference on Thursday to announce a petition to the International Criminal Court about alleged abuses by security forces. He said they fired tear gas and bullets while breaking into his car.
Journalists watched an officer drag Wine out of the car while claiming he had not broken any laws. “As you can see, I’m being arrested,” he said to the camera, before popping sounds were heard.
“You are embarrassing the country,” Wine said to officials. Subsequently, he was allowed to finish the briefing and move on. He spent the day on the campaign trail, during which he said 23 members of his team were arrested.
The confrontation lasted hours after the deadly US Capitol riot led to questions about whether some governments would be encouraged to press harder against people who invoke democratic ideals, such as fair elections.
The singer and opposition leader announced that he is petitioning the ICC to investigate allegations of torture and other rights abuses in the East African country ahead of next week’s elections. The ICC receives hundreds of such requests from around the world each year.
Wine, 38, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, sparked the imagination of many across Africa as he tried to oust the longtime president Yoweri Museveni, who mobilized the military to avoid what he sees as attempts by the opposition to create civil unrest that could cause regime changes.
Wine and other opposition figures called Museveni a 76-year-old dictator. “Many atrocities are being committed by order of Museveni,” the singer told reporters.
Government officials did not immediately comment.
Wine, often arrested on several charges but never convicted, now says his life could be in danger. He now campaigns using a bulletproof vest and helmet.
“I expect a live bullet to target me at any time,” said Wine, who sent his children to the United States for security reasons.
When asked by the organizer if he would like to end the briefing, he said he felt more secure with the cameras on.
At least 54 people were killed in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and elsewhere in the country in November, while security forces cracked down on the turmoil caused by Wine’s arrest for allegedly violating campaign regulations aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
These deaths are a critical part of Wine’s petition to the ICC to investigate alleged acts of torture, mutilation and murder of civilian protesters.
Wine’s petition and two other alleged victims of torture mention Museveni, Security Minister Elly Tumwine and other security officials. The petitioners are represented by US lawyer Bruce Afran, who said he had submitted documents to the Hague court on Thursday.
Tumwine “issued orders to ‘shoot to kill’ nominally to target protesters who attacked the police, but the orders were deliberately directed against civilian protesters,” says the complaint, which includes horrific photos of people allegedly mutilated during electoral violence.
Wine was a popular singer before winning a seat in parliament and attracting national attention as the beret leader of a movement known as “People’s Power”. He has been arrested several times and sometimes beaten last year for alleged crimes, such as disobeying legal orders.
ICC prosecutors can take years to reach a decision on a petition. Before deciding to conduct a preliminary investigation, they seek to screen those who are clearly not within their jurisdiction. Those who do are assessed for admissibility – whether the crimes are serious enough to warrant an investigation by the ICC and whether the country in question is already investigating or prosecuting the allegations.
Finally, prosecutors assess whether an investigation would be in the interest of justice.
Uganda is a signatory to the statute that created the ICC.
Other Ugandans, citing similar rights abuses, have in recent years filed a petition with the ICC, which in December refused to prosecute a case related to alleged abuses by security forces in a 2016 clash with supporters of a traditional ruler.
Museveni has governed Uganda since 1986. He has challenged many requests for retirement, saying he was elected several times by Ugandans who love him. He spoke disparagingly about the ICC, calling it “a bunch of useless people”.
Uganda’s searches are often marked by charges of fraud. The country has never seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Britain in 1962.