Aronda ordered to probe deaths in Luzira prison

What you need to know:

Torture in cells. International human rights groups blame the army, police and prisons authorities for gross violation of human rights

Kampala.

The High Court has ordered Internal Affairs minister Aronda Nyakairima to investigate the death of prisoners after a former inmate narrated torture-to-death incidents inside Luzira prison while he served his sentence.

The order for the investigation, was in regard to the death of Felix Alworonga and Abdu Karim Bagumirabingi, who died in Luzira prison.

“…there must be an inquest where death took place in a lock-up. Such an investigation into the cause of death of the above deceased persons would act as a precaution to prevent any further death and also erase any suspicion about the cause of death,” reads the order by Justice Yasin Nyanzi.

Receipt of the order
The internal affairs ministry spokesperson, Ms Pamela Ankunda, confirmed receipt of the court order for an inquest.
“I can confirm the minister of internal affairs received the court order and appropriate action shall be taken, we shall respect it and do as the court commands. I am yet to get an authoritative information from the minister on when exactly action as per the court order shall be taken and the accompanying details,” Ms Ankunda told Saturday Monitor on Thursday.

The court order followed reports from local and international human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Uganda Human Rights Commission blaming the army, police and prisons authorities for gross violation of human rights.
Former prisoner Yahaya Lukwago, who was released last year, is currently paralysed.

He states in his affidavit in support of the inquest that he witnessed torture incidents while serving his sentence at Luzira prison six years ago. Upon his release from prison, he approached human rights lawyer Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi and narrated his own ordeal and an eyewitness account of prison warders beating “inmates to death.”

“On August 7, 2009 while the prison warders were beating us with batons, Abdu Karim started bleeding profusely through the mouth and nose. He fell moments later. On October 25, 2009, Felix Alworonga had been brought to the prison the previous day and was also beaten to death during the night for having escaped from Arua Prison during the tenure of OC James Aissu who had since become the OC Kirinya Prison Jinja,” Lukwago states in his affidavit in court.

Prison’s boss agrees with move
The Spokesperson for the Uganda Prisons Service, Mr Frank Baine, told Saturday Monitor that the inquest into the death of the said prisoners had been long overdue.

“We welcome it because Lukwago is peddling lies. That inquest benefits us because it will exonerate us and leave our good image as intact as it is. It should have been done yesterday, we are confident we shall emerge cleaner,” Mr Baine said.

In his response to Lukwago’s claims in the application for the inquest, Mr James Frank Aissu, an officer at Masindi government prison, said Abdu Karim Bagumirabingi was taken to the facility on June 29, 2007 on charges of murder and was later convicted and sentenced by Masindi High Court.

“He was later transferred to Luzira Upper Prison and Jinja Main Prison on May 25, 2008 where he fell ill and was attended to by the prison medical personnel and died at Jinja Referral Hospital on August 10, 2009,” Mr Aisu said.

The late Bagumirabingi’s death certificate indicates he died of cardiovascular accident (stroke). Mr Rwakafuuzi, however, told court he contested the certificate as it bore “not conclusive proof of death and nationality of the deceased.”

Mr Aissu argued in his testimony that in the Alworonga case, “he was convicted by High Court in Arua and transferred to Luzira Main Prison, later to Jinja Main Prison where he fell sick and was admitted to the prison sick bay, he died of cerebral malaria.”

The judge pointed out inconsistencies in the dates of death given by the prison authorities and Lukwago. He said the inquest should be able to clear the air.

“It is in public interest that this court allows the application and orders the minister of Internal Affairs to appoint a coroner [magistrate] within 45 days from date of this ruling to investigate the cause of death of the two deceased,” Justice Nyanzi ordered.

He also awarded costs of the application to the former inmate to be paid by the Attorney General.

When contacted last Thursday, Mr Rwakafuuzi said he had not yet computed the costs of the application.

Under section 4(2) (a) of the Inquest Act, there must always be an inquest where and when the deceased died in police, prison custody or in a lock up.

Events leading to investigation

The order for the inquest follows another inquest at Makindye Magistrate’s Court into the death of Hassim Ssali, a key suspect in the murder of city businessman Wilberforce Wamala in 2013.

The suspect died mysteriously in police cells at Bukasa Police Post in Kampala. His remains were recently exhumed for a fresh examination on orders of the Chief Magistrate’s Court which is expected to announce its decision on the matter on July 13.

In 2010, High Court Judge Musoke Kibuuka also ordered the then minister of Internal Affairs Kirunda Kivejinja to appoint a coroner within 90 days to inquire into the death of a businessman Saidi Lutaaya in military custody of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce. His family has never seen his body.