Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI)

The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) is an independent, non-governmental organisation aiming to enhance the knowledge, respect and observance of human rights in Uganda. FHRI’s objective is to remove obstacles to democratic development. The organisation defends the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the 1995 Ugandan Constitution and other internationally recognised human rights instruments.

FHRI undertakes research, monitoring, documentation and advocacy on a variety of human rights issues and publishes human rights literature. It conducts workshops and seminars on basic law, human rights and related subjects. It encourages exchanges of information and best practices between human rights activists and engages in lobbying and strategic partnerships. The organisation campaigns for judicial independence and respect for the rights of vulnerable groups of people such as the internally displaced, children, minorities, the disabled and women FHRI advocates penal reform through prison visits, training, dialogue and policy analysis.

In 2003, FHRI launched a long-term campaign against the death penalty in Uganda, bringing the issue before the Constitutional Court through a constitutional petition.
In 2005, the court ruled that the death penalty was constitutional but repealed mandatory death sentences and ruled that condemned prisoners could not spend more than three years on death row. The ongoing campaign saw the formation of a Civil Society Coalition on the Abolition of the Death Penalty, spearheaded by FHRI.
FHRI has observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.

Date founded

1991

Structure type

NGO

World Coalition Steering Committee member