In the midst of this instability, the press has emerged as one of the strongest underpinnings of civil society in Uganda, openly expressing divergent views in a country which prohibits political parties and organized dissent. Although the 1995 constitution contains fairly liberal provisions governing freedom of expression and the press, the country has draconian statutes governing the media, some of which, such as the law on sedition, were modeled on colonial-era laws. When the state chooses to enforce these laws, journalists are arrested, detained, charged, and released after paying colossal amounts in bail. Heavy fines in defamation suits--usually brought by politicians and government officials--have caused a number of newspapers to suspend publication or go bankrupt. Most newspapers resort to self-censorship.
In June, the Uganda Journalists Safety Committee (UJSC), a press freedom watchdog organization, filed two petitions in the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of two controversial press laws-the sedition and criminal libel sections of the penal code, which have historically been used to intimidate, arrest, and detain journalists; and the repressive Press and Journalists Law of 1995, which requires strict licensing procedures. In December, the court dismissed the UJSC's petition.