Uganda: Four Environmental Defenders Arbitrarily Arrested and Detained

August 24, 2026 Human Rights & Justice

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has been informed about the arbitrary arrest and detention of four young environmental human rights defenders, Mr Ssembalirwa Aniwaly, Mr Mugoya Hassan, Mr Okanya Ivan and Mr Ariong Arone Patrick, members of the youth-led movement Rooted in Resistance, which advocates for greater accountability regarding Uganda’s natural resources and for the protection of the environment.

Ugandan Indigenous Communities Say Total’s Oil Project Is More of a Land Grab than a Development Opportunity

July 31, 2026 Energy & Extractives

When Jealousy Mugisa Mulimba, a 52-year-old father of nine in Uganda’s oil-rich Buliisa district, was informed he would need to move his family from his ancestral home because French oil giant TotalEnergies needed his three acres to build their central processing facility, he was reasonable. He didn’t put up a fight.He asked that the company give him three acres nearby; somewhere out of the way of the facility, but still near the place he’d always called home, the health facilities he and his family rely upon, and his kids’ schools.

Why Did Verra Reinstate the Northern Kenya Rangelands Soil Carbon Project Despite Human Rights and Legal Concerns?

June 30, 2026 Land & Livelihoods

Following Verra's decision to re-certify the Northern Kenya Rangelands soil Carbon Project despite an Isiolo court ruling raising questions over the legal basis of some participating conservancies. I revisited an interview I conducted with climate justice and carbon markets expert Adrien Tofighi-Niaki www.aniaki.work in March. In this conversation, he explains what the case means for carbon markets, rights of Indigenous peoples and the future of carbon offsetting in Africa.

Kenya’s Ogiek people fight on against eviction from Mau Forest

September 25, 2025 Land & Livelihoods

-Nairobi, Kenya – For years, the Kenyan government has sought to protect the Mau Forest, spanning around 4,000 hectares across several counties, from encroachment and destruction by people who fell trees to sell for charcoal and firewood. But human rights groups have said these efforts have been marred by human rights violations that are yet to stop.

Uganda’s struggles resettling climate-displaced communities

January 31, 2025 Investigations

Over many years, regional conflicts in eastern and central Africa have driven a steady influx of refugees into Uganda, to the extent the country now hosts the largest refugee population in Africa and the fifth biggest in the world. As the climate crisis deepens, however, the nation’s focus has shifted to a different type of displacement: internal migrants forced to move due to landslides and floods.

Mining Rush Threatens Indigenous Peoples in Karamoja, Uganda

January 6, 2025 Land & Livelihoods

Billions of investments into mining projects have breathed new life into Uganda’s once-neglected Karamoja region, creating thousands of jobs in mineral-rich heartlands near the Kenyan border. But the investment rush has also brought new problems, fueling environmental degradation, rights violations, and land grabbing, threatening livelihoods of millions of Indigenous Karamojong people.

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