NewsBreakingOnline

Opposition leader speaks from Nairobi hospital after attack by police during demonstrations in Kampala Uganda’s top opposition leader has said he believes his life is in danger but vowed to continue protests against the country’s president. Kizza Besigye is receiving medical treatment after police smashed into his car during a demonstration, squirted pepper spray into his eyes and tossed him into a pick-up truck. The incident sparked a violent backlash in Kampala last Friday with two people killed and 90 injured in the biggest anti-government protest in sub-Saharan Africa this year. Besigye, who has flown to a hospital in Nairobi, told a Kenyan television station: “I know that my life is in danger, without any doubt.” At an earlier protest the opposition leader was shot in the hand with a rubber bullet. But he vowed to continue with “peaceful demonstrations” and walk-to-work marches over food and fuel prices. “The population is largely marginalised and is now protesting their marginalisation,” Besigye added. He was shown addressing a press conference wearing dark glasses and a cast on his arm. He is being treated for damage to his eyes from chemicals in the pepper spray and soft tissue injuries, the hospital said, adding that he will spend the next four or five days there. The Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, said Besigye, whom he beat in February’s election, had provoked his assailants by attacking first – a charge Besigye denies. Demonstrations over the last three weeks in Uganda have left eight people dead, more than 250 injured and an estimated 580 arrested. Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said she was “appalled” by the repeated ill-treatment of Besigye, and described his latest arrest as shocking. She said: “The excessive use of force by security officers was plain to see in the television footage of the event. While I do not condone the violent rioting that followed, the Ugandan authorities must realise that their own actions have been the major factor in turning what were originally peaceful protests about escalating food and fuel prices into a national crisis.” Pillay said Ugandans must be allowed the right to peaceful assembly, and legitimate concerns about the increased cost of living and demands for wider political dialogue must be addressed. Her office had received information that since protests began on 11 April, police and soldiers had indiscriminately used teargas, pepper spray, and rubber and live bullets against protesters, and even individuals not involved in the protests. According to the Uganda Human Rights Commission, teargas was fired into schools, health centres and homes, affecting women and children, a UN statement said. “Many of these actions clearly constitute disproportionate and excessive use of force,” said Pillay, a former UN war crimes judge who is from South Africa. “Eight people have now lost their lives, including a two-year-old girl allegedly shot by a member of the security forces.” She urged Uganda’s government to conduct “thorough, prompt and impartial investigations into the human rights violations committed by the security forces”. Museveni, in power for 25 years, has vowed to defeat the protests and accused organisers of plotting to destabilise his government through looting. Uganda Protest United Nations David Smith guardian.co.uk