The commemoration that took place on Friday 3rd October 2008 at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel saw a number of activities carried out, among which; human rights awards were given to outstanding human rights activists, and a launch of a video documentary on the work of UHRC.
The commemoration that had in attendance different Government delegates, human rights activists, civil society representatives and the different members of the public saw Human Rights Network-Uganda (HURINET-U), a network of 32 human rights organizations working on a number of human rights aspects, being given an award in recognition of its outstanding contribution towards the promotion and protection of human rights in Uganda.
Mr. Patrick Tumwine, the Advocacy, Research and information Officer, who received the award on behalf of HURINET-U, said that the award was a great achievement to HURINET-U and is recognition for its efforts in the Human rights movement. He pledged HURINET-U’s commitment to fight for those whose rights are violated and also committed HURINET-U to continue working with UHRC to make Uganda a better place free of human rights violations.
UHRC was established in 1996 as a constitutional body to protect and promote human rights in the country. As a national institution, the commission has been at the helm of entrenching a culture of human rights and constitutionalism among various sections of the public. In November 2006, the commission made 10 years. Testimony of this is when the UHRC was re-accredited to ‘A’ status by the International Co-coordinating committee of National Human rights Institutions at the UN in Geneva (Switzerland) in 2008.
Since its establishment, the commission has received 13,770 human rights complaints.
