The following is based on a communication sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Uganda on 13 November 2025. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this timeframe. If a reply is received, it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the enforced disappearance of Kenyan human rights defenders Mr. Nicholas Oyoo and Mr. Bob Njagi between 1 October and 8 November 2025 following their abduction in Kampala, Uganda.
Mr. Nicholas Oyoo is the Secretary General of the Free Kenya Movement, a human rights organization working on political and civil rights and accountability in Kenya. He has also trained election observers during his engagement with the Elections Observation Group.
Mr. Bob Njagi is a human rights advocate and Chairperson of the Free Kenya Movement. He is working on accountability in cases of enforced disappearances and other human rights violations in Kenya.
Concerns regarding human rights violations against individuals and civil society actors in Uganda on the basis of perceived support or affiliation with the political opposition are not new and have been the subject of several communications by several Special Procedures mandate holders, including UGA 2/2025; UGA 6/2022; UGA 4/2021; UGA 3/2021; UGA 1/2021; UGA 5/2020; UGA 4/2020; UGA 3/2020; UGA 3/2019. We regret that we have not received a reply from the government to any of these allegation letters.
ALLEGATIONS
In September 2025, Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo travelled to Uganda to attend a rally on 1 October, in support of Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine), who is challenging President Yoweri Museveni in the upcoming January 2026 elections. On 1 October 2025, Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo were reportedly intercepted at a petrol station in Kireka, Kampala. Several men in a mix of military and plain clothes forced them into an unmarked vehicle. Their fate, whereabouts, and conditions remained unknown until their release on 8 November 2025.
On 6 October 2025, Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition before Uganda’s High Court. The application demanded that the authorities, including the Chief of Defence Forces, the heads of Defence Intelligence, the national police, and the Attorney General, release Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo immediately and unconditionally.
On 15 October 2025, the Court ordered State authorities to present Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo “dead or alive” within seven days. The seven-day deadline lapsed on 21 October 2025.
On 21 October 2025, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) denied holding Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo in their custody in a sworn affidavit by the Director at the Joint Staff Legal Services of the UPDF. The Director indicated that investigations and searches had been undertaken, that no entry relating to Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo was found between 1 October and 22 October 2025, that they were not in their custody, and that they had no information regarding their whereabouts.
On 23 October 2025, the High Court of Uganda dismissed the habeas corpus petition, finding that the applicants had failed to provide sufficient evidence that the Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo were being held in any known or recognized state detention facility. The ruling judge classified the case as one of missing persons and directed the petitioners to file a formal missing person report with the Uganda Police Force to trigger a police investigation under national procedures. The Court further stated that its jurisdiction was limited to cases of proven detention by state agents, and that without evidence that Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo were in custody, it could not make further coercive orders directed at the Government.
On 28 October 2025, Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs issued a statement stressing continued engagement with the Uganda authorities, including working directly with family members to secure information.
Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo were released on 8 November 2025 and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, on the same day. Reportedly, Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo were held at facilities of the Defense Intelligence and Security division agency, formerly known as the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, an entity with alleged links to arbitrary detention and torture of government opponents. Mr. Njagi also reports that he and Mr. Oyoo were abducted by the Ugandan military.
Following Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo’s release, President Museveni acknowledged that they had been arrested due to their involvement in demonstrations. Public statements by President Museveni and Kenya’s Foreign Minister Mudavadi indicate that their release was the result of sustained diplomatic efforts by the Government of Kenya.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our concern over the reported abduction and enforced disappearance of Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo. It appears that their enforced disappearance may have been a direct result of their peaceful and legitimate work to protect and promote human rights, and their efforts to observe democratic processes in Uganda. We fear that the enforced disappearance of Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression, support for democratic processes, and transnational activism and human rights work.
We welcome the release of Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo, yet the acknowledgement of President Museveni that they were arrested due to their engagement in democratic processes and attending peaceful assemblies is a strong indicator that the enforced disappearance of Mr. Njagi and Mr. Oyoo constitutes a clear violation of international human rights law by the Ugandan authorities. If confirmed, their enforced disappearance would amount to violations of articles 6, 7, 9 and 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
