"We are concerned that physical and legal attacks on journalists intimidate and silence the press," the organisations said in a letter to President Yoweri Museveni. "They stifle criticism and can lead to self-censorship."

In the most serious incident, radio journalist Paul Kiggundu was beaten to death on 11 September after being mistaken for a policeman by a mob of taxi drivers as he filmed them demolishing a house.

Photojournalist Arthur Kintu of The New Vision newspaper was attacked by a National Resistance Movement politician for taking his photograph at a conference without permission.

There have also been a number of reports of journalists being detained and prevented from performing their duties under the guise of anti-terror laws. On 16 August, the Nakawa chief magistrate’s court prohibited them from publishing information about the police investigation into the 11 July Kampala bomb attack in which 76 people died. Any journalist who writes about the investigation risks being charged with terrorism under the 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act.

In addition, an amendment to the Press and Journalist Act has been proposed that would restrict freedom of expression by imposing onerous registration and licensing requirements on the printed media.

In a letter sent to President Museveni, WAN-IFRA called on the Ugandan government to investigate attacks against journalists and to ensure a climate in which they are safe to carry out their jobs without fear or intimidation.

The letter called on the president to fully respect international standards of freedom of expression, including those contained in WAN-IFRA’s Declaration of Table Mountain, which seeks to repeal insult and criminal defamation laws across Africa and place a free press higher on the agenda of the continent’s political leaders (www.declarationoftablemountain.org).

The full letter read:

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries, to express our serious concern at recent physical and legal attacks on journalists.

According to reports, motorcycle taxi drivers beat Top Radio journalist Paul Kiggundu to death on the evening of 11 September while he was filming them demolish a house in a town near Kalisizio, in the southwest of the country. The drivers were destroying the house of another driver whom they accused of committing murder and robbery. The drivers reportedly believed that Mr Kiggundu was working for the police.

On 7 September, Hajji Hassan Basajjabalaba, of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, reportedly slapped and punched photojournalist Arthur Kintu of The New Vision newspaper, for taking his photograph at a conference without permission. It is the second time in recent months that Mr Basajjabalaba has been accused of attacking journalists, following the reported assault on Radio Two journalist Ivan Kalanzi.

We are also concerned at two legal moves that threaten the press. First, an amendment to the Press and Journalist Act has been proposed which would restrict freedom of expression by imposing onerous registration and licensing requirements on the printed media. Second, on 16 August the Nakawa chief magistrate’s court issued an injunction against all print and broadcast media, prohibiting them from publishing information about the police investigation into the 11 July Kampala bomb attack, in which 76 people died. Any journalist who writes about the investigation risks being charged with terrorism under the 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act.

There have also been incidents of journalists being detained for carrying out their professional duties. On 18 August, Wavah Broadcasting Service television journalist Harrison Thembo was held for several hours at Bwera on the Uganda-DR Congo border for filming activities at the local immigration office. On 1 September, police questioned journalist Richard Mivule for over five hours, on suspicion of “incitement to violence”, after he hosted an opposition member of parliament on his radio programme during the September 2009 riots that claimed the lives of more than 40 people.

While your government has overseen some major advances in press freedom, such as the decision to enshrine the right to freedom of the press and access to information in the Constitution, recent developments suggest that some of these advances are in danger of being lost, particularly in the name of "anti terrorism" and in consideration of next year’s presidential elections. Among other things, the government has not yet declared its intention to repeal the country’s criminal sedition laws following the High Court’s finding in August that they are unconstitutional.

We are concerned that physical and legal attacks on journalists intimidate and silence the press. They stifle criticism and can lead to self-censorship.

We respectfully bring to your attention the Declaration of Table Mountain, endorsed at the 60th World Newspaper Congress and 14th Editors Forum in Cape Town in June 2007. The Declaration calls on African states to promote the highest standards of press freedom, uphold the principles proclaimed in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other protocols, and provide constitutional guarantees of freedom of the press.

We respectfully call on you to take all necessary steps to protect journalists and to provide a legal environment in which the press is able to carry out its role as watchdog of society. We ask you to ensure that in future your country fully respects international standards of press freedom.

More WAN-IFRA press freedom protests can be found at here.

WAN-IFRA is the global organisation for the world’s newspapers and news publishers, with formal representative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe.

Learn more about WAN-IFRA at www.wan-ifra.org or through the WAN-IFRA Magazine.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris, France. Tel: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org.