MPs: Police harass citizens

Besides the parliamentarians, the committee says it also received complaints from 23 individuals and representatives of different organisations but was only able to investigate the complaints of four complainants.

Kampala

The parliamentary select committee investigating unprofessionalism in the Police has finally compiled a draft report in which it accuses the force of mistreating Ugandans, especially when arresting suspects.

However, the report, which has been compiled more than 18 months after the committee started its investigations, is silent on what action the government should take on officers accused of having abused their offices.

The select committee was established in June 2008, following the arrest of Kampala Woman MP Nabilah Sempala, Lubaga South MP Suzan Nampijja and Workers’ MP Sam Lyomoki. The two female MPs accused the arresting officers of humiliating them by attempting to strip them naked.

On the arrest of the MPs, the report says that while the legislators should take the blame for not work closely with the Police prior to their rallies, the junior officers who carried out the arrests humiliated most of the legislators.

Prosecute them
The report recommends that senior commanding officers, some of who watched the arrests without intervening, should be held responsible.
“There is evidence that Hon. Sempala was arrested by ungazetted police trainees who had no experience in carrying out such arrests. This, however, was done in the presence of senior police officers including the DPC Old Kampala Police Station, Mr Mwanga and AIP Babiggamba who should be held responsible for the action of the trainees,” said the report.

The committee further found that there was no justification for the violent arrest of Aruu County MP Odonga Otto and Kampala Central MP Elias Lukwago for allegedly breaking traffic rules. “The reason given by Police that they had committed a traffic offence for going over a police (barricade) cannot be believed because their driver was not arrested,” said the report.

Public complaints
Besides the parliamentarians, the committee says it also received complaints from 23 individuals and representatives of different organisations but was only able to investigate the complaints of four complainants.

The investigators found that the police in some instances declared innocent suspects as “mad” yet they are not and as a result a number of suspects have been dragged it to Butabika Mental Referral Hospital only to find them sane.

For instance, Goddy Muhumuza, one of the victims of police torture who complained to the committee narrated the ordeal he went through on July 10, 2007 when he was ‘unfairly’ arrested and taken to Butabika Referral hospital for mental treatment.

The committee’s conclusion on Mr Muhumuza’s alleged mental sickness, after consulting the members of the Medical Board led by Dr Edward Naddumba, is that: “…Mr Muhumuza was not mentally disturbed.”

As a result, the committee recommended that the law be amended to make it mandatory for doctors to examine the alleged mentally ill suspects before signing urgency orders for their committal to mental institutions.

The committee received petitions from various members of the public and civil society all complaining about the alleged use of excessive force during arrests, illegal detention, suppression of legal public rallies and mistreatment of journalists. “The Uganda Human Rights Network for Journalists complained of several instances where they have experienced suffering by police when covering events,” the report adds. It adds: “….all these offences (on civilians) have been reported to the IGP and the Minister of Internal Affairs but no action has been taken to date.”

Minister concedes
In his response, The State Minister for Internal Affairs, Mr Matia Kasaija, whose ministry supervises the activities of police, said: “It is possible that some police officers sometimes error in their duties. This is why we have set up a Police Standard Unit to investigate such incidents.”

While the compilation of a draft report has taken the Select Committee headed by Nakasongora MP Peter Nyombi more than 18 months, the report offers no recommendations or even observations after its investigations into the recruitment, welfare, training and management of the Uganda Police and the alleged brutality. Explaining the oversight in the draft report, the committee blames them on logistical and manpower problems.