Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine to seek presidency, chides West over rights
Wine, 43, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, will be challenging long-serving President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who is widely expected to seek re-election.
"Yeah, I've expressed my availability on behalf of my team," Wine said in an interview with Reuters when asked whether he would stand again in the east African country's next presidential election, due in January.
Participation in the election, he said, will also be "a fighting opportunity to further undress and expose the regime and to further galvanise the people of Uganda to rise up and free themselves."
Wine came second in the last election in 2021 but rejected the outcome, alleging ballot staffing, falsification of results, beatings and intimidation by soldiers and other irregularities.
Government and electoral officials denied the accusations.
Wine criticised Western governments for not denouncing what he said were escalating human rights violations, including abductions, illegal detention and torture of his supporters and officials. Wine did not single out any country for criticism.
"Some leaders in the West are complicit in our suffering. They are here to crack their (business) deals and they don't care about human rights," he said.
"If they were standing for the values that they profess, then they would be castigating all these gross human rights violations."
Uganda is considered by the West as an ally in the fight against jihadists and has deployed troops in Somalia.
Uganda's justice minister said this week that Eddie Mutwe, an activist in Wine's National Unity Platform (NUP) party, who also doubles as his personal body guard, appeared to have been tortured while in captivity.
Museveni's son and head of the military, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said he had kept him in his basement and that he was using him as a punching bag.
After missing for a week Mutwe was on Monday produced in court, charged with robbery and remanded.
Wine said Mutwe told him he had been electrocuted, waterboarded and beaten.
Police spokesman Rusoke Kituma did not respond to a Reuters call for comment on the allegations. Reuters contacted a spokesperson for Uganda's defence forces seeking comment from Kainerugaba. He did not respond.
Wine said that if was elected, his priorities would include restoration of political and civil rights and a crackdown on corruption.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘Dad, imam, God': children living with self-declared pope in former UK orphanage
A religious sect, whose leader claims to be the new pope and whose followers say he can make the moon disappear, is operating out of a former orphanage in Crewe, Cheshire, where at least a dozen children are being home schooled. The Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL) was founded by Abdullah Hashem, a former documentary maker turned self-proclaimed 'saviour of mankind' who uses YouTube and TikTok to proselytise to potential recruits. One such video appears to feature a primary school-aged girl claiming she was cured of stomach pains after Hashem placed his hand on her. Hashem urges followers to sell their possessions and donate their salaries to his cause. The religious group blends Islamic theology with conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and aliens secretly controlling US presidents. AROPL says it is a peaceful, open and transparent religious movement derived from Shia Islam that has faced persecution around the world owing to its belief in equality and human rights. If you have something to share about the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), or other issues raised in this story, you can contact Maeve using one of the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. To send a message to Maeve please choose the 'UK Investigations' team. Signal Messenger You can message Maeve using the Signal Messenger app at maevemcclenaghan.45 Email (not secure) If you don't need a high level of security or confidentiality you can email SecureDrop and other secure methods If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform. Finally, our guide at lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each. It relocated to the Cheshire town, in the north-west of England, in 2021, moving into a former orphanage, Webb House, a Grade II-listed building worth £2m. The group was previously based in Sweden. The members were in effect barred from the country after a slew of businesses linked to the organisation were found to be providing sham visas. About 100 followers are said to live at the Crewe headquarters, including families with children who are home schooled on site. During a recent visit on a weekday afternoon, a reporter saw more than a dozen young children playing in a yard. Elsewhere, adults in black beanie hats sat eating lunch or walking large guard dogs. (Hashem and his followers routinely wear black beanies, even in hot weather.) The Guardian has reviewed court judgments, company filings, religious scriptures and videos and hundreds of pages of official documents about the group and its members, and interviewed several former members. Some, including former residents of the headquarters at Crewe, expressed concern about the wellbeing and education of the children there. Cheshire East council's social services twice made inquiries relating to the group or the children. There is no evidence action was deemed necessary. 'Duty' to donate salary Hashem, an Egyptian-American raised in Indiana, first made a name for himself making films in which he infiltrated and debunked cults in the US. In 2008, he and his partner were sued after filming an undercover documentary about a Switzerland-based UFO religion. 'We're really building up our reputation for debunking the false prophet, UFO phenomenon,' Hashem told reporters while promoting his documentary. Seven years later, he founded AROPL, declaring himself the Mahdi, a saviour figure from Islamic doomsday prophecy. He also claims to be the rightful pope, as well as the successor to the prophet Muhammad and Jesus. Hashem's scriptures are contained in his book, The Goal of the Wise. It declares his followers have a 'duty' to donate their entire salary – keeping only deductions for basic living – and sell their houses or land to fund his mission to create a 'divine' state. Former members said they felt pressured to sever ties with people outside the group, and were encouraged to sell their properties to fund its activities. One woman said she handed over all the money she had received for her wedding; another follower said he donated about £33,000. Hashem's scripture promotes a number of unusual beliefs, such as his claim that epilepsy can be cured by placing a bird of paradise on a patient's genitals. A lawyer for AROPL and Hashem said no practices involving birds of paradise were conducted. They said that 'in common with other religious orders' AROPL expected permanent residents to sell assets to help sustain themselves and the movement, and denied that members were encouraged to ostracise relatives or tightly controlled. The lawyer said members could join and leave AROPL as they wished. The group has faced harassment and persecution, particularly in Algeria, Malaysia and Turkey, where many of its claims, such as the Qur'an having been corrupted or tolerance for LGBT people, are considered heresies. Amnesty International and other human rights groups have criticised alleged mistreatment of AROPL members, which UN experts have called 'a persecuted religious minority'. Slick media operation For those in Crewe, regular gatherings take place in the 'basilica', a room with a raised wooden dais and walls covered with illustrations of the supporters Hashem has declared are reincarnations of religious figures. The group operates a slick-media operation, and regularly produces and circulates videos about its activities. On one TikTok channel a large group of men, many wearing black beanies, declare they are 'soldiers' for Hashem and will fight and die for him. One is holding a guard dog on a chain. Some videos feature children. In one, a boy who says he is 16, describes Hashem as his 'dad, imam, God'. In another video, which shows the apparently primary school-aged girl claiming Hashem miraculously cured her stomach pains, the child's mother says she considered conventional medical advice before turning to her religious leader. 'It reached a point that I was thinking, OK, now I feel I have to take her to the doctor,' she said. However, after seeing a video showing Hashem supposedly curing a man of stomach pains with his hands, she instead asked the religious leader to give her daughter the same treatment. The video then shows the girl saying that Hashem placed his hand on her stomach: 'He told me to close my eyes, and then he said some words, I don't know which words,' she said. She added that Hashem then stepped away 'and it actually worked … it feels good for my stomach and it's really healed'. AROPL's lawyer, asked about the video, said Hashem and the group fully supported the NHS as the solution to all medical issues in the UK. Two relatives of a teenager living at the Crewe premises told the Guardian he had previously told them that he was unhappy there and wanted to leave. They also expressed concerns about his lack of formal education. It is legal in England to home school, although any group of five or more children must be registered with the Department for Education. AROPL's lawyer said the organisation was not involved in home schooling, which was led by parents. The group had considered setting up a formal school, the lawyer said, but had shelved the idea and 'dismantled the classrooms'. Hashem has warned his followers about the corrupting influence of mainstream education on children, and encouraged them to 'take advantage of laws' in countries that enable home schooling. He recently told followers: 'You can't fully control what's going on with your child so long as they are mingling on the outside with people that you don't know.' AROPL has applied for charitable status in the UK, with the Charity Commission currently considering the application. It has charitable status in the US, and has several hundred supporters around the world, who are asked to pledge allegiance to the group via social media. Deportations from Sweden The group was previously based in Egypt and Germany, before moving to Sweden, where 69 members had their residency permits revoked. The Swedish Migration Agency concluded that AROPL members had created businesses that were 'rogue employers', intended primarily to obtain residency permits. The companies' supposed staff received very low wages, which the agency suspected were then immediately paid into other AROPL businesses, leaving the workers without real payment. In a series of rulings in 2022 an immigration court upheld the agency's findings and ordered the deportation of dozens of the group's members, although most had moved to the UK by the time the judgments were handed down. In a statement, Hashem claimed followers served with deportation notices were victims of racist and religious persecution, and complained about 'the spewing of racism for the sake of rallying a Nazi base of supporters to stand behind the fascist Swedish government'. In Germany, where AROPL had been based before moving to Sweden, an investigation is continuing into the disappearance of a German member of the group. Lisa Wiese disappeared while visiting India in 2019. She had travelled there with another member of AROPL, vanishing shortly after arrival, and has not been seen since. A lawyer for AROPL said the group did not have any information about the disappearance of Wiese, a mother of two. This article was amended on 2 July 2025. An earlier version incorrectly said those educating groups of more than five children must be registered with Ofsted; however, this applies to five or more children, and the registration should be with the Department for Education.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Fifa urged to stand up against Donald Trump's immigration policies ahead of 2026 World Cup
Fifa has been urged to encourage the American government to reverse its immigration policies ahead of the 2026 World Cup and has been warned that football's governing body risks being 'used as a public relations tool to whitewash the reputation of an increasingly authoritarian government'. In an open letter to Fifa president Gianni Infantino, 90 leading civil society organisations highlighted what it called 'a series of repressive executive orders and enacted policy changes that violate both U.S. and international human rights law' by President Donald Trump 's administration which could impact visitors to the United States next summer. Infantino was encouraged to use his leverage with Trump to influence American government policies by groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP. They claimed that Fifa has not taken into account what they called a 'significant deterioration in the rights climate in the United States', citing that non-American nationals in the United States or those who express political opinions that are not shared by the current administration are at risk of denial of entry, detention or deportation. They also called conditions in American immigration detention facilities 'cruel' and 'inhuman' and said the Trump administration's travel bans restricted the ability of nationals from 19 countries to go to the United States. The letter read: 'Since the inauguration of President Trump in January 2025, the U.S. government has issued a series of repressive executive orders and enacted policy changes that violate both U.S. and international human rights law. These actions pose a serious threat to individuals - particularly non-citizens - traveling to or residing in the United States, including the estimated 1.5m foreign visitors attending this summer's Club World Cup and 2.6m visitors projected to attend next summer's Men's World Cup. Increased immigration enforcement actions, abusive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, and broader border restrictions have also contributed to widespread fear and uncertainty.' The 90 bodies have called upon Fifa to 'publicly recognize the severity of the risks that U.S. government policies and practices pose to tournament attendees and migrant communities in the U.S. and publicly urge President Trump to reverse these policies and practices.' Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, said: 'The Trump administration has aggressively pursued a systematic anti-human rights campaign to target, detain, and disappear immigrants in communities across the U.S. – including in cities where the World Cup will take place.' Nick McGeehan, co-director of FairSquare, added: 'This is a hugely significant intervention from a broad swathe of U.S. civil society, which leaves Fifa in no doubt as to their profound concerns not just about the deterioration of the rights climate in the U.S. but the role that Fifa seems to be playing in that regard.' Other signatures to the letter included organisations in World Cup host states and cities, including New York, Florida, Georgia, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Reuters
8 hours ago
- Reuters
Kenya looks to privatise state assets to draw private-sector investments, says President Ruto
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