Prime
Gen Kayihura taken to International Criminal Court
Gen Kale Kayihura. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Other police officers implicated include; Gen. Dan Munyuza, Col. James Burabyo (military attaché Rwandan Embassy in Uganda), ACP Baroza Jonathan, CP Baguma Ismail (Rwandan-commissioner of police and police attaché, Rwandan embassy), ASP Fred Tumuhirwe, Faizal Katende, Wilson Atekateka, Julius Kasinguzi, Abel Kitagenda, Abel Twijukye, Alex Katungi, Rutagungira Rene and Mohamood Matovu.
- The filing of this criminal complaint before the ICC, comes barely two months after nine people, among whom are five senior police officers have since been charged before the Makindye military court for allegedly kidnapping former bodyguard of Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
KAMPALA. Sacked Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura, has been taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes against humanity that he allegedly committed along with his men when they forcefully deported a group of Rwandan nationals back to Rwanda.
Led by Mr Rugema Kayumba, the group states that they decided to file a criminal complaint before The Hague-based ICC court on grounds that they had failed to get justice in Uganda for a long time.
They further state the crimes allegedly committed by Kayihura and his accomplices, fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC that tries four major categories of crime that include; crimes of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Gen Kayihura who had been at the helm of the Police Force for over the last 12 years before he was shown exit last Sunday by President Museveni and replaced by Okoth Ochola, is jointly taken to ICC along with 16 other senior police officers including the already indicted SSP Nixon Agasiirwe, SCP Aguma Joel.
The criminal complaint has since been filed in the office of the ICC chief prosecutor, Ms Fatou Bensouda in the Information and Evidence Unit at The Hague court in Netherlands.
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“This petition is brought to the ICC on its merits being that crimes like murder, deportation or forceful transfer of population. Torture and enforced disappearance of persons are within the definition of crimes against humanity which are triable by the ICC,” the petitioners state in the criminal complaint before the ICC.
“Selected Uganda Police Officers were offered 5000 USD for each individual repatriated, a witness testified to us that some of these victims who resisted where executed within Uganda,” the complaint states further.
The group claims that between 2010 and 2017, Rwandan authorities procured services of members of the Uganda Police Force to forcefully repatriate Rwandan refugees, Ugandans of Rwandan origin and Congolese of Rwandan origin.
Narrating how the alleged crimes against humanity were committed by Kayihura and his men, the petitioner’s state that selected police officers on the Ugandan side were selected to join missions that involved kidnapping, torturing, killing and repatriating Rwandan refugees and asylum seekers.
They point out of how officer Aguma was allegedly kidnapped Joel Mutabazi and handed him over to his tormentors, Rwandan operatives and is now on life sentence, how Olivier Rukundo, a Spanish national of Rwandan origin was kidnapped on his way from his relatives in Kisoro District and that he is serving a life sentence.
At the tail end of their criminal complaint, the petitioners make some requests to the court.
They include; to be availed with security and guarantee that their lives will always be safe in Uganda and in any other country, prosecute Kayihura and his men for alleged crimes committed, be compensated for the atrocities committed against them by agents of the two countries, a permanent injunction be issued to restrain the perpetrators and countries involved from all sorts of abuse against this group.
The filing of this criminal complaint before the ICC, comes barely two months after nine people, among whom are five senior police officers have since been charged before the Makindye military court for allegedly kidnapping former bodyguard of Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.
The suspects who include Rwandan and Congolese nationals face charges of conspiracy to kidnap, a Rwandan officer, Lt Joel Mutabazi in Uganda in 2013.
Joel Mutabazi, a former lieutenant in Kagame’s Republican Guard was allegedly kidnapped in Kampala in 2013 and handed over to his home government which sentenced him to life imprisonment.
