Uganda Opposition Deputy President Vanishes After Military Seizure

It has been 13 days since armed soldiers seized Muwanga Kivumbi, a deputy president of Uganda’s main opposition party, the National Unity Platform. He has not been heard from since, and authorities have not explained where he is. On July 10, a day after a court released Kivumbi on bail for politically related terrorism charges, plainclothes and uniformed soldiers pulled him from his car at a police roadblock near Kampala. They drove him to an unknown location. He is now a victim of an enforced disappearance, a crime under international law. An enforced disappearance happens when state agents detain someone and refuse to confirm the detention or reveal the person’s location. This places the victim outside legal protection. Kivumbi faces a heightened risk of torture and other abuses. Kivumbi had been in prison since January 22, 2026, when authorities arrested him along with two other opposition deputy presidents after the January 14 general elections. The other two were released after several days incommunicado. Kivumbi was charged with orchestrating a violent attack on a police station and a polling station. He denied the accusation and was held until his bail on July 9. This week, Kivumbi’s family filed a habeas corpus application, asking the court to order his release. A judge declined and instead ordered the government to “conclude investigations” within a week. During the hearing, police denied holding him. Ugandan security agencies regularly re-arrest people shortly after courts grant them bail or acquit them on politically related charges. Kivumbi’s disappearance is one of several unlawful detentions of government critics in recent weeks. The Ugandan authorities should immediately disclose Kivumbi’s whereabouts, release him, and end their targeting of political opposition.