Human Rights Abuses: A Challenge to Evangelization In Northern Uganda.
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Date
2004-11
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
Although Uganda is party to many international human rights documents, the
Constitution promulgated in October 1995, nevertheless dedicates a substantial amount of time
to protecting human rights. It begins by clearly stating that human rights are inherent and cannot
be granted nor removed by the government. It maintains that everyone deserves equal protection
under the law free from discrimination.
In the constitution, all citizens are granted the freedoms of conscience, expression,
movement, religion, assembly and association. The following additional rights are also protected
under the document: the right to life, the right to personal liberty, the freedom from slavery and
torture, the freedom from depravation of property, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial and
the right to education. Moreover, the rights of women, children, minorities, those with
disabilities and the family unit are all clearly spelled out in the document. The constitution
further provides the protection of human rights that are not expressly acknowledged in the
document. It empowers people to seek redress if they believe that there has been an infringement
upon any of the rights protected in the document. It establishes the Uganda Human Rights
Commission (UHC) to, among other things, appraise human rights conditions in Uganda,
research and promote public awareness of human rights issues and propose suggestions to
parliament on how human rights can be better protected in the country.
However, the protracted war in Northern Uganda has caused serious human rights abuses
and many people have suffered the consequences of the war. It has caused serious challenges to
various stakeholders, including the church in carrying her work of evangelisation. This project
seeks to devote some time looking at the challenges, which the war has caused to evangelization in Northern Uganda both at the grassroots and the national levels. Many human rights abuses
have been witnessed in the past years in the north.
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Keywords
Human Rights, Abuses, Evangelization