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This afternoon, Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, hosted Canada’s Defence Advisor, Colonel Todd Braithwaite, at the Special Forces Command (SFC) headquarters in Entebbe. Their discussions centered on strengthening Uganda–Canada military ties, including Uganda’s potential participation in Canada’s Military Training and Cooperation Program (MTCP).
On the surface, this meeting might appear as a diplomatic step forward—two nations pledging cooperation on peacekeeping and security. But as a human rights activist, I cannot ignore the glaring contradiction at the heart of this engagement: how can Canada deepen military collaboration with a government whose armed forces stand accused of systematic human rights abuses?
Uganda’s military and security forces, including the Special Forces Command itself, have been repeatedly implicated in acts of torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and even extrajudicial killings. Opposition politicians, journalists, and activists are routinely targeted, beaten, or jailed simply for exercising their constitutional rights. Just last year, several young activists were tortured in detention, and survivors testified that their tormentors operated with impunity.
General Muhoozi, son of President Yoweri Museveni, has not only overseen but openly defended some of the most brutal crackdowns on dissent. The SFC—the very host of today’s meeting—has long been identified by human rights organizations as a tool of repression used to silence political opposition.
When international partners like Canada sit across the table from Uganda’s top generals and celebrate cooperation without addressing abuses, they send a dangerous message: that human rights violations can be overlooked in the name of “peacekeeping.” Such silence risks legitimizing repression and emboldening the very institutions that have caused so much suffering.
Yes, Uganda has played an important role in regional peacekeeping, including missions in Somalia. But peace abroad cannot excuse tyranny at home. A government that tortures its own citizens cannot be a credible champion of peace for others.
If Canada is serious about its values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, it must ensure that any military partnership is conditional on Uganda’s accountability. This means demanding investigations into past abuses, protection of civil liberties, and an end to the use of security forces as instruments of political control.
Military cooperation without human rights safeguards is not partnership—it is complicity.
