Why we should embody human rights

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OPINION

By Adv. Mariam Wangadya

The chairperson, Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Mariam Wangadya delivered a keynote address at the opening of the UNOCT workshop on human rights and gender equality in counter-terrorism at the Uganda Police Force CT Resource Centre, Kampala. The workshop was held under the theme Human Rights and Gender Equality in Counter-Terrorism: Good Practices, Key Challenges and the Way Forward. Below is her presentation.

I stand before you not just as chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, but as a citizen who deeply believes that justice and security must walk hand in hand. This is more than a workshop. It is a reckoning. A dialogue we have long needed. And a commitment we must now honour — with action.

We are gathered here to discuss terrorism.

To confront it. To outthink it. But above all, to do so without compromising the very values terrorism seeks to destroy. Because if we trade away human rights in the name of security, we hand victory to terror without a fight.

No nation will ever arrest or detain its way to peace. We must be brave enough to say what many avoid: Security that tramples rights is not security. It is repression. And repression feeds the very violence we seek to prevent. This is why this workshop matters.

You are not just reviewing legal frameworks or operational practices. You are shaping the ethical spine of Uganda’s counter-terrorism response.

The three issues before us are not merely procedural questions. They are litmus tests. They reveal how far we’re willing to bend the rule of law in the face of fear.

Let’s take them, one by one.

1. THE 48-HOUR RULE FOR CHARGING TERRORISM SUSPECTS

This is not a technicality. It is a constitutional safeguard. A test of state accountability. A reminder that even in moments of fear, the law still reigns.

If we hold a suspect longer than 48 hours without charge, we may be seen as violating justice. Even if the suspect is guilty. Even if the threat is real. Because due process is not a luxury of peace. It is the foundation of it. Let us remember: A just state does not fear fair trials.

That said, I invite us to reflect candidly on the operational realities in our country. Forty-eight hours may be achievable on paper, but in practice, especially in our contexts, in under-resourced stations, the system can struggle to meet this demand.

We must be careful not to set ourselves up for procedural failure. Let us work toward building the capacity and infrastructure necessary to honour such timelines faithfully — or else we risk undermining both the spirit and the letter of the law.

2. THE 72-HOUR RULE FOR DIGITAL SEIZURES

In today’s world, digital devices carry our lives. To seize them is to hold someone’s identity in your hands. This power must be exercised with the utmost restraint. And under the strictest legal and ethical standards.

We must ask hard questions: Who accesses the data? How long is it kept? What checks exist to prevent abuse?

Terrorism should never be a pretext for mass surveillance. Our digital rights are human rights. And every intrusion must meet the test of necessity, proportionality and legality.

Again, I urge us to be realistic. Seventy-two hours may seem sufficient in theory, but in practice — especially in complex forensic investigations — it can become a race against logistical and technological hurdles. Let us not forget: when rights are on the line, shortcuts are not solutions. Instead, we need timelines that are not only principled but practical.

Ambition must walk hand-in-hand with capacity.

3. WHEN SUSPECTS ARE ALSO VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING

This may be the most morally complex challenge of all. Because behind some terror suspects, we find children abducted, women coerced, and youth indoctrinated.

Victims forced into violence, then punished for the chains they never chose. The criminal justice system must be wise enough to distinguish threat from trauma. It must know when to prosecute — and when to protect. And in doing so, we must expand our vision of who counts as vulnerable.

Sometimes, the individuals most at risk of exclusion, of abuse, of marginalisation — are not the most visible. They may not speak loudly. They may not be widely understood. But they, too, deserve the full protection of the law.

Our commitment to rights must extend even to those whose identities or experiences challenge us. Because dignity is not selective. It is universal — or it is nothing at all. If we fail to see the victim behind the crime, we fail justice itself.

These issues strike at the heart of what it means to uphold human rights under pressure. They demand courage. Not just from security officers, but from all of us. From prosecutors, judges, political leaders, the media, and yes, from institutions like the Uganda Human Rights Commission. It is not enough to observe abuses after they happen. We must be proactive guardians of human dignity. We must embed human rights in every briefing. In every arrest. In every courtroom. In every investigation. Not as an afterthought. But as a principle. Because it is only when our methods are just that our mission becomes legitimate.

To the Uganda Police Force and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, your roles, just like mine, are difficult. You carry the burden of security. And you do so in the face of very real threats. But you are not alone. The law is your ally. The Constitution is your compass. And the people’s trust is your strength. Use it well.

No law-abiding Ugandan should ever fear your power. They should draw confidence from it. Terrorists sow fear. You must not replicate it. You must replace it with justice.

To our partners, we thank you. Your support has been more than technical. It has been transformational.

By embedding gender, rule of law and rights into your assistance, you remind us that the world is watching. And supporting.

This workshop is a testament to what partnership looks like at its best: Uganda defining its own path, with global allies walking beside us, not ahead of us.

To fellow Ugandans, we are in a defining moment. A country’s character is revealed not in calm, but in crisis. This is our test. The temptation will always be to trade liberty for security. But history is clear: Once freedom is lost in fear, it is rarely recovered.

Let us choose the harder path. The principled path. The path of law, not shortcuts. Of rights, not repression. Of protection, not punishment. Let Uganda become a model — not just for how we defeat terror, but for how we do it without losing our soul.

A nation’s greatness is not measured by how it treats the powerful, but how it treats the vulnerable — even those accused of terrible things.

The measure of our security lies not in the number of arrests, but in the number of rights upheld. And justice, when done rightly, does not need to shout. It simply stands — firm, unwavering, and dignified. May this workshop renew our resolve.

May it deepen our commitment. And may it guide our actions long after these two days are over. Let us not just speak of human rights.

Let us embody them.

For God and My Country.

The writer is the chairperson, Uganda Human Rights Commission