We won’t defend officials on torture - AG
The Attorney General (AG) Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka. PHOTO/ DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Mr Kiryowa was responding to the president of the Uganda Law Society, Mr Bernard Oundo, who complained about illegal arrests and detention at the same event.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka has cautioned government officials that his office will not represent anyone sued in their individual capacity for carrying out illegal arrests of citizens.
As the chief legal adviser to the government, Mr Kiwanuka said he does not entertain illegal arrests.
“ Right Honourable Prime Minister, I have refused and I have written, if a person is brought before me in a civil matter for which there is clear evidence of torture, I have asked that individual to represent themselves,” Mr Kiryowa said last Friday during the opening of the new law year, 2023 in Kampala.
‘‘There is no reason to dramatise an arrest. If you are the State, and you are acting in the proper authority of the state, walk up to the person and ask them to escort you and if they refuse, use reasonable force to do it,’’ he said.
Mr Kiryowa was responding to the president of the Uganda Law Society, Mr Bernard Oundo, who complained about illegal arrests and detention at the same event.
Mr Oundo said: “As a Bar, we are concerned about the mode and manner of arrest which in some cases is dehumanising and contravenes the basic constitutional provisions that require that anyone arrested is informed of the reason for his arrest, given access to a lawyer and charged within 48 hours .’’
During the 2021 general polls, several people said to be anti-government were arrested by plain-clothed men and whisked away in the infamous drones.
