Human Rights and Climate Lawyer Released from Ugandan Military Prison

April 7, 2025 – Eron Kiiza, a human rights lawyer, poet, and environmentalist, was released this week from a military prison in Uganda, following efforts by local lawyers and Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef). Kiiza was imprisoned after a wrongful conviction under military trials and suffered abuse in detention. He was released on a cash bail of 20 million Ugandan Shillings, or about $6,000 USD.

“Eron Kiiza’s story is a clear case of a government misusing courts to silence critics of the current regime, and their corporate fossil fuel friends. But thanks to the steadfast legal and advocacy work of our local partners, an innocent man is free. Now, he get back to his own critical work in supporting climate defenders in Uganda,” said Alfred Brownell, founding president and co-founder of Global Climate Legal Defense.

A military court previously sentenced the lawyer on January 7, 2025 to nine months in prison without a trial or legal representation. He was charged with contempt of court after he resisted attempts by a  Military Court’’s officer to restrict him from being seated at the lawyers’ bar to represent his client. He was then physically attacked by several military officers and forcefully thrown in the court’s holding prison cell where his client was following an altercation in the military court during a client’s case. Mr. Kiiza suffered serious abuse, bodily injuries  and mistreatment by authorities while in detention.

A judge of the High Court of Uganda determined Mr. Kiiza application for bail based on several factors, including character, compliance, and ability to make bail.

Mr. Kiiza is a well-known advocate for communities impacted by the disastrous East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which would extend for 1,433 km and move over 230,000 oil barrels each day. The proposed pipeline has experienced strong opposition over human rights and environmental concerns, sparking protests from Kampala to Paris. The project could displace more than 100,000 people and lock in dangerous climate emissions for years to come. 

Since 2022, Global Climate Legal Defense has supported Ugandan climate defenders with legal strategy and provided local lawyers, to ensure that climate defenders get the legal defense they need. 

The organization has provided legal representation to several hundred climate defenders in Uganda who have faced arrests, frivolous criminal charges, detention, and lawsuits for their advocacy, and has secured the release of more than two hundred people from jail.