Right To Life Supersede Other Rights – Justice Owiny Dolo
By Damba Rogers
The chief justice of Uganda, Justice Alfonse Owinyi Dolo has reminded Ugandans that the right to life supersedes all other rights in the case of pandemics.
Giving a keynote address at the launch of the special issue journal on covid-19 and freedom of expression, assembly and access to information by human rights and peace center in Kampala, Dolo urged Ugandans to front saving lives ahead of the rights to expression, assembly and accessing information.
Though the chief justice agrees that fundamental rights are real and practical, he noted that its time citizens recognized that there are times when restrictions are set by authorities to save lives.
However, he disagrees with the way authorities in many countries have enforced covid-19 restrictions citing arrests, security brutality among others to citizens which have infringed on people’s rights.
In a related development, the director, human rights and peace center school of law Makerere university Zahara Nampewo said, though there is need to save lives, law enforcers are wrongly using their powers to infringe on people’s rights as they enforce covdi19 restrictions.
Zahara said that Uganda is not the only country infringing on people’s fundamental rights in the guise of enforcing covid19 guidelines.
