How Zaake torture threw security officers in the eye of the storm
Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake is treated at Rubaga Hospital after reportedly being beaten by security operatives in Kayunga District on December 14, 2021. PHOTO/ MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- MP Zaake was beaten during the arrest before he was dragged in a police vehicle and driven off to the police station, court records show.
What started as a show of might by the military and the police against Mityana MP Francis Zaake in Mityana District in 2020 has thrown senior police and military officers in the eye of the storm.
The four police officers, whom court found to have been involved in the torture of MP Zaake, have been sanctioned by the United States of America.
The officers are Senior Commissioner of Police (Retired) Elly Womanya, who was once the head of Special Investigations Unit; Assistant Commissioner of Police Bob Kagarura, the former regional commander for Wamala Police Region; Superintendent of Police Alex Mwine, the then police commander for Mityana District; and Inspector of Police Hamdan Twesigye.
The US sanctions forbid them and their close family members from travelling to the United States on grounds that they were involved in torture, cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment.
“The reports that Kagarura, Mwine, Twesigye, and Womanya were involved in gross violations of human rights, as documented by Ugandan civil court documents, civil society organizations, and independent journalists, are serious and credible,” the US sanction statement reads.
Although the US doesn’t mention MP Zaake as the cause of the sanctions, five of the seven security officers that MP Zaake successfully sued for torturing him have since been sanctioned by the US.
The fifth officer that Zaake sued was Maj Gen Abel Kandiho, who was sanctioned by the US in December 2021 for human rights abuse.
On April 19, 2020, police and military officers raided MP Zaake’s home accusing him for violating Covid-19 regulations when he distributed food to vulnerable communities.
MP Zaake was beaten during the arrest before he was dragged in a police vehicle and driven off to the police station, court records show. Court records further state that Zaake was later detained for 10 days at Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (now Defence Intelligence and Security) headquarters where he was tortured before he was dumped at Iran-Uganda Friendship Hospital in Naguru.
He sued seven officers and the Attorney General for torturing him and the court awarded him Shs75m as damages.
But Mr Eron Kiiza, the his lawyer, yesterday said the government has declined to pay the damages, but he is happy the US has sanctioned the security officers.
“This (US action) is a push back against impunity in Uganda. We welcome any efforts either externally or internally to help stop impunity,” Mr Kiiza said.
Uganda Police Force declined to comment on the sanctions. Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke said they are going to engage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that will communicate their message to their counterparts from the US.
