Tortured Asara still bleeds, recalls night of arrest

Ms Night Asara is in great pain and still bleeds from reported savage kicks from now suspended regional police commanderJulius Musinguzi.

The mother of six and councillor for Arua Hill Division says her only crime was working as campaign coordinator for MP-elect Kassiano Wadri during the Arua Municipality parliamentary seat by-election on August 14.

The chilling reports of torture unfolded on the last day of campaigns after Mr Francis Zaake (Mityana), Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine (Kyadondo East), Mr Gerald Karuhanga (Ntungamo), Mr Paul Mwiru (Jinja East), Mr Wadri and others were detained by the military on allegations of inciting violence.

Speaking to Daily Monitor yesterday from her home in Arua after being released from Gulu prison on bail, Ms Asara says August 13 will remain a dark day in her life.

“We had just returned from the rally and were organising how to meet our agents and visitors (MPs) to go for a talk show. Ms Nesma Ocokoru [Arua Hill Division chairperson], Mr Karuhanga, Mr Wadri and I were on a roundtable preparing for a talk show. Then Bobi Wine came, giving us bonga; his characteristic clenched fist greeting to say we had finished the campaign well and should refresh for the show.”

“Immediately he left, gunshots rang out at the door of Royal Hotel. Then I told Nesma that they could have shot Bobi. As MP Mwiru came out to see what was happening, he was also shot. Immediately, I jumped to protect Wadri and told them [soldiers]: ‘you should kill all of us;’ because the soldiers had already entered the hotel. “Mr Musinguzi was commanding police officers and soldiers to shoot through the windows of the hotel. By now, Mr Mwiru could not walk. Musinguzi was saying leta kifunguo (bring the keys) as they kept beating the hotel staff,” she recalls.

Ms Asara says Mr Musinguzi started kicking her after she declined to tell him where Mr Wadri and his colleagues were.
“He then kicked me on the chest and I collapsed. Then he kicked me again all over the body. This is when I started bleeding from my private parts. I also suffered suppression of bones on the waist and on the left leg. Thereafter, I could only hear gunshots.” That was the last Ms Asara could remember as she lost consciousness.

On allegations that their team incited violence, Ms Asara says she did not even see the President’s convoy because they were already in the hotel.

She says they were later taken to Gulu after 2am where she witnessed another horrific scene.
“We were all put at gunpoint and surrounded by soldiers. This time, I was now bleeding profusely. They did not want us to get treatment,” she says.

She recalls that the Gulu District Police Commander, Mr Emmanuel Mafundo, allowed a police officer to enter a cell with medicine and syringes.

“We all started screaming as other suspects struggled to restrain the policeman. The DPC and two other policemen rushed back to the cells asking for me. The other suspects said all of us are called Asara. We screamed again and female police officers rushed to our rescue,” Ms Asara says.

She claims they were not given treatment. “It was only Dr Andama who came to visit us and saw that my condition was bad then he gave me the crutches.” Ms Asara is yet to seek medication in Arua.

Our persistent efforts to get a comment from Mr Mafundo were futile as he was not in office and his known phone contacts remained inaccessible by press time.

But the Aswa Regional Police public relations officer, Mr Jimmy Patrick Okema, said he could not comment on the allegations
He also said police had not received any formal complaint over torture of the suspects, report of any suspect being injected with unknown substances.
“If they (suspects) have that concern they should launch it formally so that I can be in a position to comment better in respect to how she (they) have reported because it’s rumours,” Mr Okema said.