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Tortured murder suspects demand Shs360m compensation after alleged victim resurfaces
Moses Okori Wacha (L) moves with the aid of a walking stick after he was allegedly tortured in August 2011 while in the photo on the right, Policarp Onyango displays torture marks after he was released on August 23, 2011, following his wrongful detention as a murder suspect. PHOTO/FILE/COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Police admitted the 3 men were wrongly detained on accusations of murder.
Three men who were allegedly tortured by police in Lira District are demanding Shs360 million compensation for the harm suffered 13 years ago after the alleged victim resurfaced.
Moses Okori Wacha, Vincent Atyam and Policarp Onyango, all residents of Alit Village, Amach Sub-county in Lira District claim they were tortured by members of the disbanded police Rapid Response Unit (RRU), following their arrest as murder suspects on August 19, 2011.
The three were accused of murdering their neighbour, Ali Okello, who was later found to be alive.
“Security operatives drove in a private vehicle up to the home of Okello and fired bullets in the air that evening of August 19, 2011 and later they started arresting us. They alleged that we hired gunmen to kill Okello,” Okori told Monitor.
They were later detained at Lira Central Police Station under CRB 243/2011 on orders of Godwin Tumugumye, the former Lira District detective.
“We were taken to police barracks and brutally tortured, and also we took a long while in custody (from August 19 to August 23, 2011) all of which violated our rights. We have spent a lot of money on treatment and up to now we are not yet fully recovered,” Okori claimed.
On August 23, 2011, they were released on bond after the presumed dead man walked to Lira Central Police Station.
Okello showed up looking very healthy, yet police said they had recovered his corpse where we had hidden it in Gulu, Okori noted.
Moses Okori speaks narrates their ordeal as wrongful murder suspects while on visit at the Monitor Gulu bureau on July 25, 2024. PHOTO/BILL OKETCH
After being released on bond, police in Lira instructed the former Okii me Okabo clan leader (Awitong) Mike Gulu to resolve the matter through a clan meeting.
He accordingly convened a reconciliatory meeting between the alleged dead man and the brothers at Corner Amach in Lira District, on November 10, 2021.
But the three dissatisfied former murder suspects now say they want Shs120million compensation to each one of them from police.
“This compensation is needed basically for the violation of our rights that also caused harm to our health, making us unable to carry on with our usual activities that could support our livelihoods,” they said in a letter seeking President Museveni’s intervention.
Former Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) officer for northern Uganda, Kamadi Byonabye, previously told Monitor that they had received a petition from the trio, seeking justice.
In 2011, then Lira District Police Commander (DPC) Robert Ssemata, told journalists that the three men had wrongly been arrested and tortured by RRU personnel.
He said police had suspended the perpetrators.
“The matter is still before UHRC and I’m sure government will find a way of compensating the victims,” the DPC said.
Almost 15 years later, Okori says they visited UHRC to check on status of their case, only to be told that thugs broke into the office and stole the file.
UHRC has since encouraged them to open a new file in pursuit of their compensation.
“I refused because we felt it was just a waste of time,” Okori remarked on Sunday.
