Human rights NGO to close over threats to staff

Soroti- Soroti Development Association and NGOs network (SODANN), a human rights NGO, could soon close business due to threats on lives of the staff, officials have said.

 Speaking to this newspaper at the now deserted company offices in Soroti town last week, Mr Emmanuel Ogaram, a human rights monitor at SODANN, said since gunmen came to their offices last year looking for the coordinator, their operations have been hampered by threats to their lives.

 “We live in a state of fear. We cannot even do our work of protecting people’s lives smoothly. Police have taken up the matter but threats to us, six in number, never stop,” Mr Ogaram said.

 According to officials at SODANN, since the attack on May 7, 2014 at around 3pm, there has been increasing and new threats to the staff, forcing them to abandon duty for other safer workplaces.

In May 2014, Daily Monitor reported an incident in which a staff of SODANN was put on gunpoint to reveal the whereabouts of Mr Moses Omiat, the NGO’s chief executive officer, and another staff. Mr Omiat has since fled into hiding and no longer receives unknown calls to his cellular phone.

When this newspaper contacted Mr Omiat, he confirmed the conditions under which they were operating had become uncomfortable and they could soon close the offices.

When this newspaper visited the offices last week, the window panes had broken, furniture destroyed and the offices looked abandoned.

Since November 2013, the Daily Monitor has been told, anonymous callers have been threatening SODANN staff and there have been break-ins at the NGO’s offices and staff residences besides the employees being trailed.

Soroti Resident District Commissioner Mr Isaac Lulaba, who heads the district security committee,  acknowledged the threats to SODANN staff and said thegovernment was doing everything to address the matter, which he described as a sophisticated crime.

“These staff are being trailed using their phones and other forms of communication gadgets to locate them, making it complicated and risky,” he observed.

He advised the affected staff to keep in touch with security and follow the guidance by security to avoidescalating their fate.

Threats at SODANN staff are said to be related to the work they are doing on human rights protection in Teso area where they have documented gross abuses implicating big people in the sub-region. SODANN advocates respect for human rights and documents abuses.