UGANDA: HOMELESS CHILDREN FACE VIOLENCE, EXPLOITATION

(Nairobi, July 17, 2014) – Uganda is failing to protect homeless children against police abuse and other violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Street children throughout Uganda’s urban centers face violence, and physical and sexual abuse. National and local government officials should put an end to organized roundups of street children, hold police and others accountable for beatings, and provide improved access for these children to education and healthcare.
The 71-page report, “‘Where Do You Want Us to Go?’ Abuses against Street Children in Uganda,” documents human rights violations against street children by police and local government officials, as well as abuses by members of the community and older homeless children and adults. Police and other officials, including those from the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), have beaten, extorted money from, and arbitrarily detained street children after targeted roundups. In police cells children have faced further beatings and forced labor, including cleaning the cells and police living quarters. On the streets, homeless adults and older children harass, threaten, beat, sexually abuse, force drugs upon, and exploit street children, often with impunity.