ABUSED? Residents march on Lira streets to commemorate the Human Rights Day

By Patrick Okino

NORTHERN Uganda leads in human rights violation, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right (UNHCHR) has revealed.

UNHCHR district team leader Priscilla Ciesay on Friday said, “People are not able to access food, children are unable to get better education and poverty level is high. That means human rights abuses are practically high in the north.”

She was addressing people at the Coronation Park in Lira Municipality during celebrations to mark the Human Rights Day, which is celebrated every December 10.
The theme for the celebration in Lira was “fighting poverty is a matter of obligation, not charity.”

Ciesay said the prolonged LRA rebellion had intensified human rights violations because of forcing people into the internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) camps.

She said UNHCHR was sensitising people in Lango, Teso and Acholi sub-regions on their rights.

“We are working in collaboration with other agencies to sensitise people on their rights and fight poverty as they (IDPs) return to their villages.”