Uganda: Release the eleven prisoners!
The government of Uganda is taking harsh measures against environmental activists seeking to stop the EACOP oil pipeline. Eleven critics of the project have been imprisoned for 70 days after attempting to deliver a letter of protest to Kenya Commercial Bank in Kampala. We call for their immediate release. Advocating for environmental and climate protection is not a crime.
The activists were allowed into the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) branch on April 23 and were reportedly lured into the basement. The protesters, now known as the KCB11, apparently believed they would be able to speak with bank representatives there. Instead, police officers were waiting for them and arrested them, charging them with trespassing.
The KCB11 are reportedly being held in the high-security Luzira Prison, which is said to be severely overcrowded. Medical care is poor, and the water supply sometimes fails.
In their protest letters, critics of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) expressed concern that the bank could participate in its financing. The eleven are part of the #StopEACOP alliance, which brings together local groups, communities, and African and international organizations.
The alliance is calling for a halt to the planned pipeline and the associated oil fields in Tilenga and Kingfisher. So far, 43 banks and 29 insurers and reinsurers have already ruled out supporting EACOP.
Police and prosecutors have repeatedly taken harsh action against EACOP protests and have imprisoned demonstrators, as they did three weeks before the most recent case. In 2022, we campaigned for the release of a group of students with a petition that has since ended. Protesters are often arrested in the streets, and now security forces have gone as far as to set up an ambush.
Lawyers for the KCB11 have requested the immediate release of the detainees on bail. After several delays, the hearing was postponed again – to July 11. By then, they will have already spent 79 days in prison, despite being innocent.
We, along with the entire #StopEACOP network, demand: Release the prisoners! Defending the environment and climate is not a crime.
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