In Uganda, students fighting EACOP are being incarcerated in a maximum security prison

September marks the first month since June 2024 that supporters of Just Stop Oil haven’t been held in UK prisons for taking action. Going back to to 2022, the state has jailed supporters for 36 out of the last 38 months. However, while in the UK, activists have time to regroup, offer support, and take stock, the fight continues for Students Against EACOP Uganda. Right now, Ugandan authorities are wielding repressive carceral arms of the state to intimidate activists into silence.

Students Against EACOP Uganda: facing maximum security prison

EACOP is a 930-mile long pipeline that will transport oil from Uganda to a port in Tanzania. French fossil fuel firm TotalEnergies, China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd (CNOOC), and Uganda’s state oil company are partnering on the pipeline.

The project poses a climate and environmental disaster. It will facilitate the extraction of enough oil to produce over 34 million tonnes of extra carbon dioxide emissions each year. Moreover, it threatens thousands of kilometres of vital wildlife habitats. EACOP risks displacing over 100,000 people along the route – and is already harming many of these communities.

On 1 August, twelve supporters of Students Against EACOP Uganda took to the streets with banners and placards. They staged a nonviolent protest on their way to Stanbic Bank – one of the major financiers of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

Authorities arrested and imprisoned them, and have just denied them bail for the third time. They will now spend at least two months in Luzira Maximum Security Prison before trial.

Activists in Uganda will not be silenced

Prison in Uganda is notoriously difficult. They are full far beyond capacity and illness and disease is common as a result. Prison guards have subjected those in jail to beatings and torture. They often make them carry out heavy labour work while on remand.

As in the UK, the state is using remand as a tool to punish before trial. It has transferred action takers to Death Row (known in Uganda as the Committal Ward) alongside those it has convicted of capital offences in order to intimidate them in to silence.

Prison food is poor – so Just Stop Oil is urging the public to donate in solidarity with the brave Ugandan student activists in prison, in order to provide them supplementary meals. Support is available from family and friends, but with twelve activists on remand for a matter of months, finances are tight.

To make matters worse, when denying them bail, the judge made clear all twelve will be imprisoned during their trial. This will make it near impossible for them to organise an effective defence.

Just Stop Oil said to its supporters:

In this unprecedented moment we need to chip in once again. For those that have yet to donate, please make a contribution, however small – those of us in a rich nation like the UK have a huge debt to pay to people like Ugandans. It is from courts based on British structures that those taking action today face repression.

You can donate to support Students Against EACOP Uganda here.

Featured image supplied