Hosting a paedophile: Uganda’s dirty secret
Mr Baro posted his and a number of other nude photographs of girls on his Facebook page, which was pulled down on Wednesday.
What you need to know:
He is believed to be a repeat paedophile, but has managed to live in Uganda and sexually exploit its minors for six years. How he almost saw freedom for a measly Shs6m raises a number of questions - not only about the man, but also about the loopholes in Uganda’s system to protect its children.
Before his Facebook page was pulled down on Wednesday morning, a glimpse into Emin Baro’s sex offences was as easy as searching his name.
The 53-year-old Turkish teacher proudly and publicly displayed pictures of some of the girls.
One who looked perhaps 11 years old is shown with her blouse held up to expose her pre-pubescent breasts, her face expressionless for the camera. Another is of Mr Baro in a pool, with his arm around another topless underage girl. Yet, another child is photographed smiling at a plate of food in her hands.
He wasn’t trying to hide anything – and for years, he never had to. On his profile page, he proudly boasted of the ease with which he has been able to operate across the region.
“I use all the strategies to get away from one woman to another, quickly tired, traveling from one country to another, often disappointed, shaping my way of life so that it never freezes in a strong interior. I have succeeded so well that I do not know who I am,” he wrote.
His other musings range from: “l hope the inspector doesn’t come around while l have my life in such a mess” to “Love ceases to be a pleasure when it ceases to be a secret.”
Under the radar
Police say Mr Baro has kept his secret for years, and suspect more than 50 young girls paid the price. Moving between Masaka – where he met his current 19-year-old wife – Kampala and Jinja districts, they say he would pay between Shs2,000 and Shs5,000 to have sex with girls as young as 10 years old. He’s been doing it in Uganda alone for at least six years – exploiting various tourist visas, passports, and lax border controls.
Members of his most recent neighbourhood of Bugumba, Iganga were shocked at revelations about Mr Baro. Vincent Nsubuga, the area chairman lived across from him for three months, and described Mr Baro as reserved, quiet and one who kept to himself.
Throughout the day, he says he either sat at a spot outside his house or slept. “Apart from very rare times that he went to town after jogging early morning every day with his wife he came back,” Mr Nsubuga said.
Tourist visas can be extended from their normal maximum of three months to up to one year. Eunice Kisembo, spokesperson for the immigration directorate, says they should not be valid for any longer than that, but acknowledged that oversights can happen. Ms Kisembo says the immigration office was by press time carrying out investigations to verify the status of Mr Baro’s immigration.
Lack of evidence
Police say they didn’t have enough evidence before they were forced to arrest Mr Baro, on a tip off that he would be leaving his home in Iganga soon. “If I had that evidence we would have charged him with defilement,” said Special Investigations Unit (SIU) commandant Beata Chelimo.
Police had originally seen the pornographic images on Mr Baro’s Facebook page – it was how they caught onto his activities, according to Ms Chelimo. But they didn’t have the testimonies to back it up.
So the Grade One Magistrate court in Nakawa didn’t need to look at the evidence – video footage of Mr Baro having sex with children. Instead, the magistrate thanked him for his guilty plea having saved the court’s time, and sentenced him to two years in prison or a Shs6m fine. Though child pornography under section 23 of the Computer Misuse Act 2011 could have landed him in jail for up to 15 years, Mr Baro spent the night and paid the fine the next day.
Police originally said they would arrest Mr Baro on Thursday, but due to delayed paperwork from Luzira prison where he was held after his sentencing, they have now said they will rearrest him today and bring him to Masaka to gather evidence from suspected victims there. With strong testimonies from victims and witnesses, they say they are confident they can begin building a defilement case against him.
Regional offender
Mr Baro is not a first time offender. Interpol director Asan Kasingye says according to court documents, he was charged with the defilement of a 15-year-old girl in 2009 in Malindi, and is suspected to have done the same in Tanzania as well.
Mr Kasingye says Uganda should have known he was here – regional authorities are supposed to let each other know when a charged sex offender is crossing borders. But he said he suspects that Mr Baro jumped bail and made it past the region’s notoriously lax border security – a theory he’s still waiting for confirmation on from Kenya .
Local NGO African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) said on Wednesday that weak prosecution could ultimately turn Uganda into a child sex tourism destination. In fact, they say Jinja is a known hot spot for such activities already.
In 2007, the penal code was amended to punish aggravated defilement (the defilement of a child below 14 years old) with a death sentence or life imprisonment.
