Two years later, victims of illegal killings still wait to hear the voice of justice
Demonstrators take cover as a soldier shoots in the air after the Kasubi tombs fire two years ago.
What you need to know:
Rights violations. At least 100 people were killed under unclear circumstances by security operatives but no perpetrator has been arrested or implicated in the shootings.
Kampala. Two years have gone by but 100 families whose relatives were killed under unclear circumstances at the hands of security operatives are still to receive justice.
Despite documentation of these incidences, the most recent highlighted in the US State Department’s Human Rights Report on Uganda 2010, has made human rights activists conclude that a culture of impunity is pervading justice in the country.
In her April 2011 report on human rights practices in Uganda, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton detailed the killings of up to 100 civilians at the hands of state agents the past two years alone, before noting that there was little evidence to show that perpetrators were punished. The report also documents killings in several parts of the country, where some suspects were either tortured in custody or shot to death by security agencies.
In September 2009, at least 40 unarmed protesters and bystanders were killed when security forces used live bullets to disperse people who were protesting government’s refusal to allow the Kabaka travel to Kayunga District for a youth day celebration.
No accountability
No one has been held accountable for the killings, despite several commitments from the government, a botched attempt by the 8th Parliament to institute an inquiry and a flood of complaints from families of victims.
This incident, the most cited evidence activists are using to accuse President Museveni’s administration of human rights violations, is one of several cases showing government’s failure to punish perpetrators.
Numerous reports have been issued by watchdog agencies both local and international implicating security operatives of the Uganda Police and the UPDF, in alleged indiscriminately killing of civilians.
The US report also profiled the March 14 Kasubi Tombs shooting, when Special Forces Group of Mr Museveni’s advance team, fired into a crowd that had gathered to commiserate over a fire that had gutted the Buganda Kingdom royal tombs a day earlier. Cornelius Kayanja, Haruna Kakumba and an unidentified person were killed during the clashes.
A government commission, which probed the cause of the fire, concluded inquiry four months ago and authored a report, although its findings are yet to be made public. But after the shootings, the army said the President’s bodyguards were provoked. More than a year later, no arrests have been made.
Mr Med Kaggwa, chairman of Uganda Human Rights Commission, argued that it would be wrong “to take one or two or three cases” of rights violations to conclude that there was a culture of impunity. However, Mr Ssewanyana told this newspaper that the gusto with which the government “dragged” to court protesters of the opposition-led April walk-to-work protests, including FDC leader Kizza Besigye, while no security operative implicated in the Kasubi or Kayunga killings has been charged, was evidence to show “a lack of political will to bring to book perpetrators of abuse.”
