Human sacrifice convicts face death

Businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi (right) appears at the Supreme Court early last year during hearing of his appeal against his conviction for murdering 12-year-old Joseph Kasirye in 2012. Persons found guilty of committing acts of mutilating and or causing death of another person for purposes of performing a ritual, and those found in possession of human body parts, will suffer death upon conviction. PHOTO /JULIET KIGONGO. 

What you need to know:

According to the Bill, human sacrifice involves beliefs or faith and dismembering of human body parts, and targets the most vulnerable persons of society such as children and persons with disabilities

Persons found guilty of committing acts of mutilating and or causing death of another person for purposes of performing a ritual, and those found in possession of human body parts, will suffer death upon conviction, according to the proposed legal framework pending before Parliament.

The proposed law dubbed ‘The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill, 2020’, provides for the crime of human sacrifice to attract fines and the maximum penalty of death upon conviction by courts of law.

According to the Bill, human sacrifice involves beliefs or faith and dismembering of human body parts, and targets the most vulnerable persons of society such as children and persons with disabilities.

“The reported cases indicate that whereas the perpetrators of human sacrifice are mostly witchdoctors and traditional healers, the financiers of the practice are often wealthy individuals who are never prosecuted. This calls for special rules that can provide specific law on human sacrifice,” the Bill reads in part.

Ayivu County MP Bernard Atiku, who is the sponsor of the Bill, said the country has experienced a number of human sacrifice cases recorded in the last decade but without a specific law to curb the vice.

“Reports from courts of law indicate the existing legal framework is not adequate to successfully prosecute and convict culprits. There are gaps in assembling evidence and we also realised that the Penal Code Act that is being used to penalise culprits, does not recognise human sacrifice as a criminal offence,” Mr Atiku at the stakeholders’ meeting which attracted MPs on the Legal Committee and officials from Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, as well as the civil society in Kampala on Thursday.

Describing the Bill as a gift to Ugandans as the tenure of the 10th Parliament comes to an end, Mr Atiku said the law in offing will complement the existing laws to assist in investigations and prosecution of offenders.

“Treating child sacrifice as murder was a big omission and this Bill, if passed into law, prescribes the crimes, fines and penalities for the offence of human sacrifice and related matters,” he added.

Mr Atiku describes the Bill as a standalone law with its own regulation to criminalise human sacrifice, which is a new phenomenon in society.

Busiro East Constituency MP, Medard Sseggona Lubega said the law in offing intends to cure gaps in the existing laws that do not handle human sacrifice as a crime.

“This law is not about children only but adults too. There are people who have been hiding under religions and culture to mutilate others but this Bill provides for punishments and imposes responsibilities. It is timely,” he said.

Meanwhile, the civil society has appealed for the expeditious passing of the law to curb the rampant cases of human sacrifice in the country before dissolution of the 10th Parliament.

The executive director of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, Mr Peter Sewakiryanga, said cases of human sacrifice have turned into an epidemic in the country due to the rate at which they occur as a result of lack of a specific law to curb the vice.

“Every time ritual murders, especially of children, emerge in new ways and it has evolved into an epidemic. You realise that despite the existing laws, we have a huge number of cases that occur and they keep increasing every year,” Mr Sewakiryanga said.

Currently, persons accused of engaging in ritual sacrifice are charged under the Penal Code Act and or, the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Act.

Why new law

Reports from courts of law indicate the existing legal framework is not adequate to successfully prosecute and convict culprits. There are gaps in assembling evidence and we also realised that the Penal Code Act that is being used to penalise culprits, does not recognise human sacrifice as a criminal offence,” Bernard Atiku, Ayivu County MP