Tales of torture and death in Uganda’s torture centres

Other problem areas in the US report are the rampant ritual murders and mob violence cases. “Mob attacks against criminal suspects resulted in deaths. Witnesses rarely cooperated with police, making investigation of such incidents difficult,” it adds.

Abduction implications
On disappearances, the report implicates the government in politically motivated abductions, giving the example of two FDC members Ismail Wagaba and Robert Mugyenyi who were taken from their homes by suspected state agents in 2008 and 2006, respectively.

On torture cases, the American report says “there were credible reports that security forces tortured and beat suspects, some of whom died as a result”. Quoting the recent UHRC findings, the report says torture generally occurred in unregistered detention facilities and was intended to force confessions.

“There were numerous reports of torture and abuse in the unregistered detention facilities operated by the JATT and CMI. In its April 8 report, HRW noted that detainees held in JATT headquarters in Kololo and at CMI headquarters in Kitante described being “hit repeatedly with the butt of a gun, slapped in the head and ears, or beaten with fists, whips, canes, chairs, and shoes.”

“JATT and CMI personnel “put detainees into painful stress positions and forced red chili pepper into eyes, nose, and ears,” causing excruciating pain. Some detainees described being shocked with electricity, and many reported seeing detainees struggling to walk or having to be carried by fellow detainees to vehicles. One detainee lost his leg due to infection in a wound caused by a severe beating,” says the US report.

The UHRC, the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), and other human rights organisations have previously reported incidents of torture by security forces, including caning, severe beating, stabbing, kicking, tying of limbs in contorted positions, forced marching, and rape.

“Torture victims included political activists and detainees,” says the US report, “For example, Francis Atugonza, the mayor of Hoima and the FDC’s trade and industry secretary, filed charges during the year against the CMI for alleged illegal detention and torture in a CMI “safe house” after he was arrested in April.”

“During the September 10-12 riots in Kampala, security forces beat suspects, including women, and went door to door in some neighborhoods, pulling residents out of their homes to be beaten and arrested, according to HRW.

Victims petitioned
“The UHRC received complaints from individuals who sustained injuries during the riots. For example, a petition filed by Ssemukala Ismail alleged that security force members shot him while he was closing his shop in Nateete, impairing his left arm.”

The Uganda police further features in the US report for its excessive use of force during arrests, evictions and land disputes resulted in injuries.
It also highlights the issue of an influx of arms in the country, fuelling violence in the Karamoja region, resulting in deaths and injuries.

It also condemns the continued holding onto children forcibly abducted from Uganda by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel force currently hiding in the DR Congo, “responsible for killing, raping, and kidnapping hundreds of persons in the DRC, CAR, and Sudan”.