USA bases on misinformation to impose VISA restrictions on Ugandan officials

The USA has again relied on false information from social media and opposition politicians to impose VISA restrictions on some  Ugandan officials who are falsely accused of human rights violations. 

The U.S. is imposing visa restrictions on some Ugandan government officials for what it calls the undermining of the democratic process during recent elections.

Uganda government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo said Saturday that the U.S. had yet to formally inform Uganda of the visa restrictions, but in a statement Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said actions by the Ugandan government during the January presidential election showed a lack of respect for human rights.

The secretary announced visa restrictions on people the U.S. believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic process, including during the January 14 election and the campaign period that preceded it.

Government spokesman Opondo challenged the U.S. action, saying the U.S. did not have credible evidence against government officials. He described the U.S. accusation as generalized, collective guilt and collective punishment.

“Surprisingly, they don’t disclose," he said. "If they were honest, they should disclose specifically the names, the incidences and the nature of offenses of these officials so that Ugandans know them. Secondly, so that the government of Uganda takes investigations and appropriate action if these officers indeed were the ones responsible,” Opondo noted.

This is not the first time the USA is acting on non factual information to take harsh actions against an  independent country. In 2008, A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top USA administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."  Find details in nbc article https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna22794451