The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has strongly condemned the deployment of police dogs against opposition supporters during political rallies, describing the actions as a violation of constitutional rights and a threat to democratic policing in Uganda.
ULS Vice President Anthony Asiimwe noted that using dogs in public protests carries a historical legacy of oppression. “Historically, police dog deployment during public protests has been used to instill fear and suppress resistance, most infamously during apartheid in South Africa,” Asiimwe said.
The comments follow reports from a National Unity Platform (NUP) campaign rally for presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, where police and military personnel reportedly deployed sniffer dogs against supporters. Eyewitnesses said some handlers actively set dogs on rally attendees.
Asiimwe warned that such tactics echo colonial and apartheid-era methods of intimidation and authoritarian control. “Unleashing dogs in a campaign rally is a tool of threat, fear, and force, and this must not be tolerated,” he said.
The ULS also raised concerns about arbitrary arrests in Kawempe Division, Kampala, where several civilians, including bystanders, were reportedly detained without cause. “These arrests undermine the rule of law, violate constitutional rights to liberty and due process, and erode public trust in law-enforcement institutions,” Asiimwe said.
ULS issued a set of demands to the government, calling for an immediate halt to the use of dogs at political events, the unconditional release of unlawfully detained civilians, and strict adherence to constitutional policing standards that respect human dignity.
Asiimwe questioned the broader implications of using animals as instruments of political coercion, asking, “If the state permits law-enforcement agencies to unleash living creatures as tools of political intimidation, what does that say about the rule of law? Such tactics are unacceptable in a democratic society.”
