DEMOCRACY SUMMIT

US sanctions Uganda’s military intelligence

By Julian Pecquet

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Posted on December 8, 2021 00:05

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, president of Uganda on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

The Joe Biden administration on Tuesday sanctioned Uganda’s military intelligence chief for human rights abuses ahead of this week’s Summit for Democracy.

Maj. Gen. Abel Kandiho was sanctioned along with more than a dozen Iranian and Syrian officials, highlighting the administration’s promise to call out both friends and foes. The Treasury Department designation blocks any US property that Kandiho may own.

“Ahead of this week’s Summit for Democracy, [the] Treasury is targeting over a dozen government officials across three countries in connection with serious human rights abuse that undermines democracy,” Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control Andrea Gacki said in a statement. “[The] Treasury will continue to defend against authoritarianism, promoting accountability for violent repression of people seeking to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The US accuses Kandiho and other officials of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) of physically abusing detainees. He was designated under President Donald

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