Uganda dismisses UN ad hoc body report on South Sudan airstrikes

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Uganda has dismissed a United Nations (UN) commission of inquiry report that accuses its troops of helping South Sudan launch airstrikes that killed and severely burned civilians last year.

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said in a report that the attacks involved widespread use of improvised incendiary devices and targeted civilian-populated areas, predominantly affecting Nuer communities in opposition-affiliated areas.

However, Uganda’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN, Adonia Ayebare, took to X on Tuesday (March 10) and poured cold water on the report, saying it was written by an ad hoc body.

“The so-called UN report on South Sudan that is being used in attacking Uganda was authored by an ad hoc body with [an] advisory role to the UN human rights council. Uganda was not given a chance to respond to their findings,” he said.

Adonia, who is also an ex officio member of the Ugandan Cabinet, stated that when the ad hoc body presented its recommendations on South Sudan to the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland, Uganda was not even mentioned.

He therefore said, “It is a pity that this lightweight and badly sourced [report] is being given oxygen” by the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch.

Risch had claimed on X that “Uganda has shifted from a reliable security partner [of the US] to an exporter of brutality”.

“This evidence should kickstart a reassessment of our bilateral relationship,” he argued, noting that the US President Donald Trump’s administration has implemented “serious repercussions for those committing atrocities in South Sudan, and this is no different”.

But Adonia shot back immediately, telling the Senator that Uganda remains a reliable security partner of the US in the East African region.

“The United States benefited from our stabilization efforts in South Sudan in terms of protection and planning for evacuation. As we speak, Entebbe airport serves as a critical asset for US personnel both in the region and beyond,” the Ugandan envoy stated.

“It is not prudent to use a biased and badly sourced UN human rights report to assess such an important partnership. We continue to work closely with our colleagues in the US administration to strengthen our security and economic cooperation,” he added.

Agriculture minister Frank K Tumwebaze also lashed out at Risch, saying his “rhetoric and double standards are not only unfortunate but also nauseating, to say the least”.

“If you can’t comprehend the role Uganda has played in stabilizing the region (from Sudan to Somalia) by averting the most complex human catastrophes, then you are either lost or being pretentious,” the minister told the Senator.

He also told him that President Yoweri Museveni can offer him “free lessons on how the efforts of Uganda have indeed stabilised the region and even helped to fight your own country’s wars like in Somalia”.

What others say

However, some Ugandans, such as Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, hailed the US Senator for raising these concerns.

“Ugandans, South Sudanese, and all the people of our region deserve peace and professional armies accountable to elected civilian governments. Partner governments should not turn a blind eye to such serious human rights violations,” she said while responding to Risch’s post.

In March last year, Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers were deployed to South Sudan under “Operation Mlinzi wa Kimya”.

This followed a request by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to his Ugandan counterpart, seeking urgent support to stabilise the country after renewed conflict broke out.

The troops were expected to reinforce peacekeeping efforts and prevent further escalation of violence in the country.

The opposition leader and suspended First Vice President of South Sudan, Riek Machar, faces trial on charges including treason, which he denies.