We, the concerned citizens and members of the global community hereby petition the Supreme Court of Uganda and the Judiciary through Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dolo, over the injustices, gross violation of human rights and disregard for the rule of law in Uganda. 
The judiciary has turned a blind eye to the continued trial of civilians in military courts, the highhandedness of said military courts and the political persecution of the opponents and critics of the sitting National Resistance Movement regime under President Yoweri Museveni. 

At the centre of this quandary is the failure/refusal of the Judiciary to deliver a key judgment concerning the legality of the trial of civilians in military courts. This question was answered by the Constitutional Court in three cases but one was appealed to the Supreme Court and execution was stayed, while the other two rulings have not been implemented. The Attorney General vide Attorney General versus Michael Kabaziguruka- Constitutional Application No. 5 of 2021 appealed the ruling in Constitutional Petition No. 45 of 2016, where the constitutional court had found that the General Court Martial has no jurisdiction over persons not subject to military law or to try any offences other than those set out under the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces Act. The same court has reiterated this in two other cases;  Rtd. Cpt. Amon Byaruhanga & 169 Ors. versus Attorney General - Constitutional Petition No. 0044 of 2015 and Ssemujju Abdunoor versus Attorney General- Constitutional Petition No. 04 of 2018. 

In the Kabaziguruka case, the Supreme Court pledged to deliver judgment in the appeal as soon as possible but it has not, four years later. This delay has had grave consequences;  32 supporters of the opposition party the National Unity Platform have been in a protracted legal process and detention for four years. Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye was abducted in Nairobi in November 2024, and produced by security officials for trial under the General Court Martial. His lawyer Eron Kizza summarily tried and was sentenced to nine months in prison on 7 January 2024 during the course of representing his client.

The Supreme Court is the last arbiter of justice, and yet now risks being perceived as a tool of political expediency in this matter. It has not always been this way. In 2006, the Supreme Court vide Attorney General versus Uganda Law Society - SCCA No. 1 of 2006, found that for a person to be tried in military courts, such a person must be subject to military law. Other courts including the Constitutional Court have at all material times maintained that military courts were established for the discipline of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces. The case of Rtd. Cpt. Amon Byaruhanga & 169 Ors. versus Attorney General - Constitutional Petition No. 0044 of 2015 has emphasized that position. 

Several attempts have been made by different entities, including the Agora Centre for Research, to have the said judgement delivered but the same has been ignored. A case in point is 2024, Agora Centre for Research vide Supreme Court Constitutional Application No.5 of 2024; Agora Center for Research Limited versus Attorney General applied to review the decision of Supreme Court Constitutional Application No.5 of 2021 but the same has not even been fixed for hearing. Agora took further steps to have the application fixed for hearing but the same has been ignored. As a result of the delay, several civilians including advocates continue to be tried and summarily convicted by military courts.

Your Lordship, the petitioners are concerned about the inordinate delay, refusal, and/or neglect in delivering the judgment to clarify the position of civilians' trials in military courts.

Therefore, in light of the above, the Petitioners pray for the following:
1. We urge the Supreme Court, through you as its head, to expedite the delivery of the judgment in the appeal filed in Attorney General versus Michael Kabaziguruka.
2. The Supreme Court should provide the public with a clear timeline or explanation for the delay, ensuring that all parties involved are kept informed on the status of the case.
3. Order military courts to transfer all files where accused persons are civilians to civil courts.