BY
MOSES SSERWANGA
The rising number of cases of suspects being tortured
by police officers and other security operatives while in detention centers have
convulsed the country and whipped up unprecedented public outcry . Television and radio interviews of torture
victims have been recorded while video clips of victims narrating their ordeal
have gone viral on the social media.
And yet this new worrying trend is against the
NRA/NRM long held doctrine against torture and political assassinations dating
back to the bush war days spanning from the early 1980s. When President Yoweri
Museveni launched the NRA/NRM revolution
and the bush war some 36 years ago , he maintained a zero tolerance for torture
as a means of extracting intelligence
information or illegal confessions from suspects .
It is therefore, surprising and utterly disreputable
that in the recent past ,some police officers have taken it upon themselves to
torture suspects while in police custody
and other un-gazetted detention centers .
A special committee of the police force
led by the Director of Legal and Human Rights Erasmus Twaruhukwa and whose other members
included Dr. John Kamya, James Kushemererwa and Emilian Kayima recently recommended
the closure of Nalufenya after it found that the detention facility did not
meet minimum standards required of a holding place for suspects .
And whereas, the new police administration led by
the Inspector General of Police , Martin Okoth Ochora should be commended for
their brave action to close the Nalufenya detention facility following wide public protests -that it was one of the most
recognized torture chambers in the country ,special investigations should be
instituted to bring to book all the police officers who have been
involved in gross violation of
human rights including the torture of suspects .
The Uganda constitution 1995,in Article 24 under the
bill of rights provides for human
dignity and protection from inhuman treatment .It states thus :” no one shall
be subjected to torture ,cruel ,inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment.
“
The Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Act read
together with other international legal instruments interalia, the United
Convention Against Torture also- outlaws torture in any form including but not
limited to physical and psychological torture, holding suspects incommunicado
and denying them adequate medical care .
The courts of Uganda have gone ahead to uphold these
principles that govern the fundamental human rights of suspects and one of the
recent cases being the 19 suspects in
the Kaweesi murder case . The High Court held that there was gross violation of
the suspects human rights when they were subjected to various forms of torture
while in detention at Nalufenya .
The court observed and rightly so that the rule
of law is not a self-effecting
doctrine where it’s enforcement is a function
of the will of people but rather has
institutions charged with enforcing it, especially the
police and the judiciary.
The practice of torture, therefore, is
in stark contrast to the doctrine of the rule
of law. All suspects in the custody of the
state should be accorded their fundamental human rights as enshrined in our
constitution . Under our criminal justice system suspects are presumed innocent
until proved guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. The Uganda police and
other security agencies should not be
allowed a free hand to torture suspects
because anyone can fall victim any day .
And in its continued
effort to clean up a badly tarnished police image , the new police
administration should carry out regular
independent inspections of all detention facilities across the country to stamp
out human rights violations. It is in
the best interest of society that police
cells and other detention facilities meet the intentionally acceptable
standards to ensure the observance of human rights and promotion of the rule of
law.
We need a
robust human rights protection mechanisms involving both the rights holders and
duty bearers. All is not lost on us.
The writer
is an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda
And Media, Communications
Consultant/trainer.
msserwanga@gmail.com
