UPDF, police on the spot over torture
Condemned. A policeman escorts two suspects tied with ropes in their waists to Arua Police Station recently. Police and the army have been blamed for perpetrating torture in West Nile with UHRC warning that officers will, in future, be held accountable for their individual acts. PHOTO BY FELIX WAROM
What you need to know:
- The Regional Human Rights Officer, Ms Juliet Logose, said they would continue sensitising the public on how to identify the security officers who torture them.
- Last year, the commissioner awarded Shs50m to those who were tortured by the police and UPDF soldiers in West Nile sub-region.
WEST NILE. The army and the police are the biggest violators of human rights in West Nile, a new Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) report, has revealed.
The report is against the backdrop of various human rights complaints having been registered with the Arua District UHRC regional office by residents against security operatives.
Mr Samuel Jasua, one of the alleged torture victims, who was allegedly shot by a police officer in Paidha town as they dispersed a crowd that was protesting the killing of a businessman, is one of the several residents who have reported to the UHRC.
“The injury weakened my body and I am now failing to walk well because the operation to remove the bullet that was stuck in my thigh caused more wounds. During the time I was shot in 2012, I failed to provide food and other necessities for my family,” he said.
During the ruling recently, UHRC commissioner Meddie Mulumba awarded Mr Jasua Shs25m both as exemplary and general damages.
“The security forces should act responsibly and not with impunity, to protect the citizens. It is unfortunate that government keeps losing money in compensation due to lack of responsibility of these soldiers or police officers,” he said.
Mr Mulumba said the policemen and soldiers would in future be held responsible for their individual actions to act as deterrent to others.
However, Mr Mulumba dismissed two cases filed against the State because the complainants filed them out of the stipulated period of five years, and lacked sufficient evidence.
“We ask the civilians to report cases early before evidence is tempered with. But we also have cases where culture interferes with the rights of especially women who are being battered at home. They do not report such cases for fear of being victimised culturally,” he said.
Mr Charles Otwikende, one of the complainants, lost a case where a UPDF officer shot him on allegations that he was suspected to be a terrorist from DR Congo. He had filed the case outside the stipulated period.
The Regional Human Rights Officer, Ms Juliet Logose, said they would continue sensitising the public on how to identify the security officers who torture them.
“We ask the people to record the names of these officers, who torture them because their names are on the uniforms. We shall continue making impromptu visits to prisons because there are complaints there too,” she said.
Last year, the commissioner awarded Shs50m to those who were tortured by the police and UPDF soldiers in West Nile sub-region.
Just last week, the High Court in Kampala ordered government to compensate 22 of the suspects in the Andrew Felix Kaweesi murder with Shs1.8b for alleged torture in police cells after they were arrested for being behind the murder of the top officer. Each suspected is expected to get Shs80m out of the total Shs1.8b according to the court ruling.
