Dictionary of Genocide - D Ank Unlimited

O
Obote, Milton (1924–2005). Former prime minister, then president, of Uganda. In 1955,
when Uganda was ruled as a colonial protectorate by Britain, Obote founded the Uganda
National Congress (UNC). As Britain engaged in the process of decolonization, he was
elected to the colonial assembly (1958), but, a year later, his party split. Obote became
the leader of one of the successor parties to the UNC, the Uganda People’s Congress. In
1961 he was elected prime minister of Uganda (he assumed office in 1962), and, at independence
in 1963, he remained in this position. His coalition colleague, Sir Edward
Mutesa (Mutesa II, king of Buganda, 1924–1969; reigned 1939–1966), became titular
head of state as president. This changed in 1966, as Obote launched a successful coup in
order to become undisputed president.
From 1966 to 1971 Obote subjected the country to a tight authoritarian rule. At the
time of the coup, hundreds of opposition supporters (and those suspected of backing
them) were killed, as Obote suspended the constitution. Thousands of others were
imprisoned or forced into exile. Freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and other
democratic freedoms were suppressed. The one area over which Obote could not achieve
supremacy was the military. In anticipation that his protégé General Idi Amin
(c. 1925–2003) would remain a compliant partner in the scheme of things, Obote
misjudged the level of support he actually possessed, and, in 1971, his government was
overthrown by Amin while Obote was out of the country on state business. Amin’s own
reign of terror was much harsher than that of Obote, but, in some ways, the former president
had laid the groundwork for it through his own authoritarian style. When Amin was
ousted in 1979, Obote—who had always maintained that he was the legitimate president
of Uganda—was reinstated in 1980. This led to a very destructive period of civil war,
including the commission of genocidal acts against the Baganda people in the Luwero
Triangle region, an area opposed to the reinstallation of Obote as president, and the
military imposition of rule by the Uganda National Liberation Army.
Perhaps up to three hundred thousand people, targeted for ethnic and tribal reasons,
lost their lives. In 1985 Obote was finally overthrown, and a slow period of transition—
from police state, to military, to civilian, rule—began. Obote fled into a self-imposed exile
into Tanzania.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Established in 1993 by the UN General Assembly, the OHCHR is the major body