Benon Kabale, a Ugandan disability rights advocate, is the 2024 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Courageous Leadership in Disability Rights, Human Rights Watch announced today on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. 

For years, Kabale has been fighting for the rights and dignity of people with psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions). As a person with lived experience, Kabale has been seeking justice after being secluded and restrained in a mental health hospital. In 2018, he founded and currently serves as executive director of the Mental Health Recovery Initiative, which aims to raise awareness of human rights in mental health and promote respect for and protection of the autonomy of people with psychosocial disabilities. 

“Benon Kabale has showed incredible resilience advancing rights in mental health, guided by his experiences of having his rights violated in a mental health setting,” said Elizabeth Kamundia, disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “His exceptional fight for justice constitutes a beacon of hope for people with disabilities, a group that remains highly stigmatized in Uganda and around the world.” 

In 2015, Kabale, together with the Center for Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) with the support of Validity Foundation and Mental Health Uganda, sued the government for restraining and keeping people with psychosocial disabilities in seclusion rooms in mental health facilities. They urged the court to declare this treatment a violation of fundamental human rights guaranteed by Uganda’s constitution. The case is on appeal, and as of June 2023, the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) has taken on the representation.

The case followed Kabale’s seclusion at Butabika Hospital, Uganda’s national mental health hospital, first in 2005 and again in 2010. The first time, workers at the hospital wrestled him to the ground, injected him with something, and undressed him. He woke up naked, in a sealed, dark, cold, and soundless room with no ventilation, bedding, or toilets. He was kept there totally alone for over 24 hours.

In 2018, the high court ruled against Kabale, stating that his seclusion did not violate his rights. Disturbingly, the judge dismissed his testimony, saying that “it is not believable that he could have recalled all that he went through” because Kabale had admitted to experiencing a mental health crisis. The judge thus reinforced an often-held but incorrect belief that people with psychosocial disabilities cannot be reliable or competent witnesses. 

“I view this fellowship as a stepping-stone toward realizing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Uganda in 2008, especially in the field of mental health,” Kabale said. “Based on lived experience, I strive to be a voice for persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities around the world.”

Kabale was selected from a competitive pool of candidates nominated by Human Rights Watch staff for their disability rights leadership. As part of his fellowship, Kabale will receive training in research, advocacy, communications, and fundraising from Human Rights Watch colleagues. The fellowship further provides opportunities to strengthen his networks with other organizations and advocates, particularly those focusing on human rights in mental health. 

Human Rights Watch established the fellowship to honor the disability rights icon Marca Bristo, founder of Access Living and inaugural chair of the Human Rights Watch disability rights advisory committee. Bristo was a key advocate for the adoption of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and helped shape Human Rights Watch’s disability rights strategy. She encouraged Human Rights Watch to actively involve people with disabilities in its work and to invest in the development of emerging disability rights activists.

Previous Marca Bristo fellows have continued to promote disability rights with added skills to do their work more effectively. For example, 2023/2024 fellow Mariana Lozano briefed states party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) about the rights of young people with intellectual disabilities, particularly their rights to inclusive education and employment. 

In March, 2022/2023 fellow Benafsha Yaqoobi received the International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State for her extraordinary achievements advocating for the rights of women with disabilities in Afghanistan. Hauwa Ojeifo, Marca Bristo inaugural fellow in 2020 and founder of She Writes Woman, a movement that gives mental health a voice in Nigeria, received funding from Melinda French Gates to advance the health and wellbeing of women based on her achievements. 

“This fellowship has supported rising leaders with disabilities, and Benon Kabale embodies the passion and purpose needed to advance disability rights and mental health care reform globally,” said Karen Tamley president and CEO at Access Living. “As a human rights activist, Benon’s groundbreaking work in Uganda demonstrates his unwavering commitment to justice. We look forward to seeing the important impact his work will make this year and for years to come.”