CliDef Helps Secure Release of Abducted Climate Defender in Uganda
NEW YORK, NY (June 12, 2024) – Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef) has led the coordination effort of an incredible ground team of partners, lawyers, and international collaborators to secure the release of Stephen Kwikiriza, a Ugandan climate defender who disappeared last Tuesday, June 4th.
Kwikiriza, a staff member at the Environment Governance Institute (EGI), has been working to stop the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and the Kingfisher Development Area project (KFDA). He was allegedly abducted by the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), the country’s armed forces.
Kwikiriza was found on Sunday, June 9th, five days after he was allegedly abducted, at around 8:30 PM. He was left along the side of the road in Kyenyoyo, which is about five hours northwest of Kampala. Kwikiriza was difficult to locate as security forces moved him frequently. Throughout his abduction, he was beaten and tortured. Upon his release, he was taken to an emergency ward and is receiving treatment for his substantial injuries.
CliDef deployed a mix of on-the-ground legal strategy and international pressure to the case in order to secure his release. The organization, which has been working with Ugandan climate defenders since 2022, supports individuals and organizations in “hot spots'' where high-impact fossil fuel projects combined with repressive or risky legal environments raise the stakes for climate activism.
“Thanks to CliDef’s pre-positioned funding, partners, collaborators, and lawyers’ network in Uganda and across Africa, direct legal support, and mobilization of local and international pressure, a life was saved,” said Alfred Brownell, Founding President of Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef). “Unfortunately, it is not just Stephen’s case. We are seeing a ramping up of illegal and dangerous actions against anyone who speaks out to stop EACOP. The goal is to silence dissent against fossil fuel development in Uganda, which threatens our climate, fragile local ecosystems, and is displacing local communities.”
After the discovery of oil in Uganda nearly twenty years ago, the government has used intimidation, harassment, blackmail, arrests, detentions, and other threats to instill fear among the citizens who try to fight against the dangers of oil extraction in the country.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and French multinational TotalEnergies co-own Uganda oil fields with the state-run Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC). KFDA is a key crude oil extraction site for Uganda, located in Kikuube on Lake Albert in the country’s western region and is set for commercial production in 2025. EACOP is a proposed 1,443-kilometer (nearly 900-mile) pipeline that will connect oilfields in western Uganda with the port of Tanga in eastern Tanzania. The crude oil will be transported to refineries in the Netherlands.
CliDef has supported young climate activists facing arrests, frivolous criminal charges, detention, and lawsuits for their activism with the #StopEACOP campaign. CliDef is currently representing seven climate activists who were arrested on May 27, 2024 outside the Chinese embassy in Kampala. They were arrested while attempting to deliver a petition outlining the adverse effects of the EACOP project, including the loss of their land, environmental degradation, and violations of human and community rights.
In 2022, nine student activists – along with more than 40 other protestors – took part in a march to the European Commission offices in Kampala, where they planned to deliver a petition in support of a European Parliament resolution relating to the proposed pipeline. Ugandan police refused their entry, and then arrested and charged the nine activists. In 2023, with support from CliDef, a Kampala court dropped the charges against nine student climate activists on the basis that the government failed to produce any witnesses or evidence to substantiate the charges.
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About CliDef
Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef) emboldens climate defenders to act by providing legal support. We offer legal advice, coordination, and funds for legal defense and strengthen a community of diverse lawyers and legal organizations to serve the climate movement. To learn more, please visit our website: www.climatelegaldefense.org
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