From 9/11 to 7/11, balancing security, liberty

From 9/11 to 7/11, balancing security, liberty

27 July, 2010 | Tom Rhodes (CPJ East Africa Consulant)
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Ugandan President

Museveni urged his peers at

this week's African Union

summit to unite in the battle

against terrorism in the

aftermath of the terrible

7/11 bombings in Kampala.

Security measures pursued

by Ugandan authorities

after the twin bombings,

however, have left some Ugandans and other East African residents
wary. East African journalists were among those detained by Ugandan
security forces following the bombing. Uganda’s parliament,
meanwhile, quickly passed a telephone surveillance bill.

The pursuit of stronger security in Uganda is understandable. The
Somali Al-Shabaab, which claims links to Al-Qaeda, claimed
responsibility for the bombings; Ugandans, whatever their ethnicities,
should not have to live in fear of a terrorist threat. But determining
whether a counter-terrorism measure actually improves public safety
or simply increases state authority is a key step.

As Muslim-Americans felt a backlash from authorities and citizens
after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., so too are Somalis residing
in Uganda. At least 20 Somalis were arrested last week, according to
the Ugandan daily, New Vision. One of those in custody, Bille
Abdullahi, is a former reporter for the independent Somali
broadcaster, Radio Shabelle, according to a fellow exiled Somali
journalist living in Kampala.

“I remember hiding in our office back in Somalia, like a prisoner,
fearing the Shabaab would attack us,” said the exiled journalist who
spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “Now I hide in
my house in Kampala, fearing people will accuse me of being Al-
Shabaab. Is this living, really? I sometimes wonder.” An Ethiopian
journalist told me that Ethiopians and Eritreans living in Uganda are
also targeted because, to some extent, they resemble Somalis. Police
briefly detained the journalist and two colleagues after the bombing
and told them they would be under surveillance.

Just days after the bombing, Uganda’s parliament passed a phone-
tapping bill. “The law effectively turns Uganda into one Big Brother
House,” columnist Isaac Mufumba wrote in The Independent
magazine. “Big Brother will listen in to your conversations with your
wife, friend, or colleague and read text messages and e-mails to and
from your spouse and friends,” he warned. The Interceptions and
Communications Bill would require mobile users to register their SIM
cards for security purposes, and would create a new monitoring
center.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. House and Senate adopted
the Patriot Act as a way to counter terrorism. An understandably
concerned American public acceded to broad measures empowering
federal law enforcement to gather intelligence and investigate those
suspected of terrorism. But over time some Americans grew wary,
seeing it as legislative overcompensation enacted in a time of crisis.

In some respects, Ugandan MPs have taken the need for balance into
account in regard to the Interceptions of Communications Bill. An
earlier proposal to hand the security minister absolute power to issue
warrants for interception was thrown out and the power given to
judges instead. It is now up to President Museveni, who is expected
to sign the bill into law, and Uganda’s security forces to ensure the
public’s safety and their liberty.

Courtesy