Punish perpetrators of torture severely

What you need to know:

  • The issue: Brutal arrests
  • Our view: This country is increasingly giving in to the “rule of impunity”, where certain people can do whatever they like to others because they will not face the law.

The rule of law is what many countries that claim to be democratic follow. Whatever the crime, or accusation, the law comes first. This is why the arms of the government such as the Judiciary and the Legislature exist.

This is why they are accorded respect and importance because the latter helps to make the law and the former are part of the system that execute it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, has over the years been compiled and amended to ensure that every Ugandan is treated with respect according to the law.

The Constitution was made for people such as Yusuf Kawooya, the man who was brutally arrested off the streets of Kampala and whose whereabouts as this newspaper reported yesterday, were still unknown (by press time). All the Police and Army spokespersons are not giving clear statements about what might have happened to him.

This Constitution was made for people like James Akena and Herbert Zziwa, who are journalists, and many others, who were going about their business only to be brutally beaten, kicked and shoved around and arrested in August when Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, was arrested.

The Army and Defence spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, on August 21, said in a statement that the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) had ordered for the arrest and punishment of the unprofessional soldiers who molested journalists. We are, however, yet to see who these criminals were and what punishment they have received.

This Constitution was made for people whom the Land Commission of Inquiry, headed by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, have found to have been cheated, mistreated and robbed of their land, often by those in power and who should know and do better.

This Constitution was made for people like Ahmed Ssenfuka and Baker Walusimbi, who were rearrested after the courts had granted them bail. It was made for people like former IGP Kale Kayihura and many others, who were arrested and not charged in court within the mandatory 48 hours that the law gives.

This country is increasingly giving in to the “rule of impunity”, where certain people can do whatever they like to others because they will not face the law. They will get away with warnings by their supervisors at best, which is merely a slap on the wrist.

If those in government whose duty it is to ensure the law is upheld and that all those who break the rules, including their own, are not subjected to the law, we will find ourselves in a place we struggled for so many years to get out of. The signs are only too clear.

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