Torture perverts course of justice- legal experts

Gory images of people from security custody with scars and evidence of whipping on their bodies have attracted debate and social media outcry. Many commenters on social media platforms express worry about the manner in which the tormentors operate with impunity.

One of the recent victims of torture is the National Unity Platform (NUP)’s Kasese District coordinator, Samuel Masereka.

 “They told me to remove all of my clothes. They caned me on every part. Even the private part, they do not spare it,” Masereka told NTV Uganda.

 The other victim is Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who appeared in court limping and his body covered with torture marks.

Rukirabashaija was arrested in late December 2021 and charged on January 11, 2022 with offensive communication over a series of unflattering Twitter posts about President Museveni and his son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Security reading different script!

 Last August, President Museveni spoke against what he described as primitive and traditional methods of getting information from suspected criminals.

“Don’t beat members of the public, do not beat criminals. You are not allowed to beat anybody because it is backward, it is criminality,” Mr Museveni said in a televised address.
 But hardly a year later, some security operatives are seemingly reading from a different script from that of the Commander-In-Chief.

In 2018, while he was Chief Justice, Bart Katureebe expressed his dissatisfaction with the torture of suspects.

“If you obtain a confession as a result of torture and someone comes and says that he or she was tortured to give the confession, in court, it is not admissible. If it is the only evidence you are relying on, the court will refuse it and the man may get off even when he is guilty because you messed up,” Katureebe told the media.

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Send strong message
 Human rights lawyer, George Musisi says the Judiciary should take a firm stand against hearing cases where suspects are tortured and avoid being seen as an entity that covers up for illegalities.

“It is time to send a message. Let us give a more purposive approach to the constitution which says that you are supposed to bring someone in court within 48 hours, you are not supposed to torture anyone and send a message that when you bring tortured suspects, we as the judiciary shall not entertain them. They should not place taking plea above the obligation not to torture,” Mr Musisi says.

“The Judiciary does not condone presentation of tortured suspects in court. Even when you have presented such a suspect and the evidence reveals that it was extracted after torture, courts usually reject such evidence,” Judiciary spokesperson, Mr Jameson Karemani said.

 President Museveni has on several occasions blown his own trumpet regarding the rule of law as seen in his 2021 national address on Human rights.

 “Our human rights record is incomparable to any in the world. The NRM never believes in revenge,” Mr Museveni boasted.

Nonetheless, torture incidents appear to be rising. The Uganda Human Rights Commission reported 346 complaints of torture in 2018. This was a 13 percent increase from the 306 complaints that were registered in 2017. Most acts of torture were allegedly carried out by the police, the army and prison authorities.

Compromising prosecutions
 
 The president of the Uganda Law society Pheona Nabasa Wall says justice must be seen to be done and not merely talked about.
 "This behavior is compromising prosecutions. At the end of the day, we are forgetting who needs justice here. It is the victims. If a victim has suffered a crime and somebody has been held as a suspect and you torture them, and the court dismisses the case because of inadmissible evidence, then you have created an even greater injustice to the victim,” Ms Nabasa argues.

Those who have survived to tell their tale narrate harrowing experiences in the torture chambers of various security outfits. Nalufenya in Jinja was formerly a police post but was turned into a notorious detention centre where several Ugandans were tortured in the name of being investigated. The detention facility was reportedly closed in 2018 on the recommendation of MPs who had visited it.

Worsening restrictions on civic space in Uganda

 After the Universal Periodic Review 40^th session held in Geneva, Switzerland on January 24, 2022 the U.S said in a January 27 statement delivered by Delaney Felker, Foreign Affairs Officer, that it’s concerned about worsening restrictions on civic space in Uganda.

“The United States appreciates Uganda’s longstanding policy of open borders for refugees seeking safety, including ongoing efforts to support individuals from Afghanistan relocated by private organizations. However, we remain concerned about worsening restrictions on civic space,” the statement reads in part.

Recommendations

In its recommendation, the US said Uganda should lift ongoing suspensions of civil society organizations to contribute to promoting and protecting freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association; pursue a full accounting of the violence and killings committed leading up to the 2021 elections, particularly enforced disappearances and the November 2020 actions of security forces, to ensure accountability and build public trust in institutions; and lastly, ensure respect for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex persons, including by ending the use of forced anal examinations on them.