By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
Soroti based Ugandan legal activist has lashed out at the European Court of Human Rights for not fixing a hearing date for a case he filed before it over the UK, US sanctions on Uganda’s Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among.
Joshua Okello initially lodged a lawsuit contesting the sanctions enforced on Speaker Anita Among on the 7th May, 2024 at the High Court Civil Division in Kampala.
But unable to get redress, he escalated his legal campaign against the United Kingdom government and US to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by filing his complaint on Tuesday, 4th June, 2024.
This effort has also not paid off with the European Court of Human Rights failing and or refusing to hear a case he filed protesting the UK, US sanctions against Rt. Hon. Anita Annet Among.
On 23rd, September, 2024, the maverick Barrister formally lodged his complaint in a letter addressed to the Registrar, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France.
Okello was putting the European Court of Human Rights Council on notice for delaying to hear a case he filed over reasons he couldn’t appreciate.
This too did not yield any positive results, with Okello now saying the Court is racist and undermines the basic principles of justice.
In a press release dated 22nd November, 2024, Okello says that the European Court of Human Rights is a court that applies the European Convention on human rights, and is not supposed to be a court that favors only Europeans because it starts with the name Europe.
“It’s task is to ensure that states respect the rights and guarantees set out in the convention. It does by examining complaints (known as ‘applicant’) lodged by individuals as I Joshua Okello did or by States,” Okello says adding that what the French Court has done over the case he filed defending Honorable Anita Among and Uganda at large is, “totally racial discrimination and shall never be forgotten.”
Okello argues that whereas discrimination against blacks by Europeans is rampant, he did not expect the same at an International Court of Human Rights.
The undeterred Ugandan Barrister now promises to take lethal steps against UK but remained tightlipped on the specific actions saying, “I don’t need to speak out on my next legal punishment on UK because warning is not a threat because a spoken threat is a foolish warning to give to your enemies.”
Okello says he is doing judicial activism which is defined as judicial philosophy holding that courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of their decisions.
BACKGROUND
The maverick Barrister formally lodged his complaint in a letter dated 23rd, September, 2024 and addressed to the Registrar, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France.
“I am writing to you to inform you of a delay in the progress of my case which am handling under public interest litigation on behalf of Uganda Speaker of Parliament, Honorable Anita Annet Among,” reads in part Okello’s protest letter.
Okello says that despite his numerous efforts, unforeseen circumstances have arisen that he does not understand because the Registrar has paid a deaf ear to him since the time he filed his suit.
“This would in essence be dishonesty on your part. I believe that as a recognized Court of Human Rights, your word ought to be your bond and as such dishonesty would amount to misconduct which is likely to bring hatred, or discrimination between the Whites and Blacks,” he writes.
Okello now wanted the Court to fix a hearing date of his application soon arguing that justice delayed is justice denied and that neglected justice is poisonous to society.
The letter was copied to President Museveni and Speaker Anita Among.
