Kampala, Uganda
Ugandan clergy have joined the US and EU in condemning the ongoing brutal torture, detention without trial and forced disappearance of political and human rights activists in the country.
The US and EU have each issued a statement condemning the forced disappearances, arbitrary detention and use of physical and mental torture by security forces. Religious leaders in the country have also expressed concern after an increase in cases of people with horrible torture marks flooding Ugandan media.
A picture showing Bobi Wine, alias Robert Kyagulanyi, president of the National Unity Platform, examining the body of Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, a Ugandan author who says he was tortured by security forces in Uganda, which was posted online. PICTURE: Robert Kyagulanyi.
Most of those who say they have been tortured are supporters of the National Unity Platform, a political party headed by Bobi Wine, alias Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-come-politician who challenged Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in the 2021 Presidential elections.
In the elections, NUP defeated President Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement in central Uganda a vital constituency in the country’s politics. President Museveni retained his office in a hotly contested election that was challenged by Wine in the courts of law as having been rigged by the former. Wine, who scored 35 per cent of the total number of votes cast against Museveni’s 59 per cent, later withdrew the case, citing the unfairness of judges of the Supreme Court.
Since then, NUP’s leaders have complained of arbitrary arrests of their supporters and have published a list of hundreds they claim have either disappeared or are being detained without trial in different prisons across the country. The party has also paraded some of its leaders who say they have been tortured.
Among those who say they have been the victims of torture is a Ugandan award-winning author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, released recently from prison after a month for insulting President Museveni’s son General Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Rukirabashaija said his tormenters tore pieces of his body using a pair of pliers until he was soaked in blood and unconscious.
“Afterwards, they ordered me to apologise to General Muhoozi for insulting him, which I did in order to escape the ordeal,” said Rukirabashaija.
Rukirabashaija’s lawyer said on Wednesday that he had fled the country.
“Yes, he has fled,” his lawyer Eron Kiiza told Reuters, adding he was destined to somewhere in Europe. Kiiza said even after being released, Rukirabashaija was kept under security agents’ surveillance.
“So when he asked for his passport and the court refused to give it to him, he had to make up his mind and make a choice between his life or wait for court. He has decided to chose his life,” Kiiza said.
Another alleged victim of torture, Samuel Masereka, is the NUP’s coordinator in Kasese district in south-western Uganda. He said he was detained at the offices of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence in Mbuya, Kampala, where he was electrocuted and beaten until he was almost unconscious. Like Kakwenza, Masereka said soldiers tore pieces of flesh from his body using pliers. Masereka was limping and appeared to be in horrible pain at a NUP press conference following his release.
Cases of torture of activists in Uganda have sparked outrage. Rev Dr Grace Lubaale, a lecturer in human rights at Kyambogo University in Uganda, told Sight that torturing Ugandans must stop and perpetrators brought to book.
“Torture is wrong, barbaric and absurd for a country that has celebrated 60 years of Independence,” Lubaale said, “When President Museveni was coming to power in 1986, he promised to uphold the fundamental rights of every individual and so the ongoing torture after staying in power for 37 years defeats logic.”
Lubaale urged security forces to desist from torture, which he said contravenes Uganda’s Constitution under Article 24 and article five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter 1948.
In a statement, the US embassy in Kampala urged the government of Uganda, as a party to the African Charter on Human Rights and the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to protect the rights of its citizens and to hold the perpetrators accountable.
We rely on our readers to fund Sight's work - become a financial supporter today!
For more information, head to our Subscriber's page.
The EU, meanwhile, noted that European nations shared the concerns of many Ugandans over the significant increase during the past year of reports of torture, arbitrary arrests, and harassment as well as attacks against human rights defenders, members of the Opposition and environmental rights activists.
“The arbitrary arrest of people by security services, holding them in ungazetted places of detention for prolonged periods of time, torturing them, not bringing them before a court within the mandatory time limit are violations of Uganda’s national legislation, regional and international commitments as well as specific presidential guidelines,” the EU stated.
The Uganda Law Society, the umbrella body of lawyers in the country, recently also issued a statement condemning torture. The statement signed by the organisation’s president, Pheona Nabasa-Wall, asked government to bring the perpetuators of torture to book.
“ULS is engaging the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to prosecute persons who have been involved in torture,” the statement said.
The US recently imposed travel bans under the Magnitsky Act against some of the top army officers in Uganda for perpetrating torture and forced disappearance of people in the country.
In a recent address to the nation, President Museveni condemned the torture of suspects and urged security agencies to desist from it.
– With Reuters
