Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni said on Friday that he had given written guidelines to the armed forces to firmly and professional ensure law and order and discipline in society.
The President add that he had directed his media unit to publicise the guidelines so that the public is made aware of them in order to be able to make informed audits of the actions of the security forces and give those in authority feedback.
This sounds like sweet music to the ears, especially coming at the end of a year in which the President and Uganda took quite a bashing from development partners, especially the United States (US), which imposed visa restrictions on 12 Ugandan officials in April before announcing financial and travel sanctions against the Chief of Military Intelligence, Maj Gen Abel Kandiho.
The 12 officials and Gen Kandiho were accused of undermining the democratic process and involvement in rights violations.
Prior to announcement of the sanctions, the Department of State had in March 2021 released a report, the “2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices”, which indicted members of the security forces for having committed various abuses including extra-judicial killings, abductions and torture of supporters of the Opposition.
There is very little evidence to suggest that action is ever taken against especially those that violate the rights of those with dissenting views.
A parliamentary committee that investigated election violence after the 2001 elections indicted Maj Roland Kakooza Mutale and members of his Kalangala Action Plan for engaging in acts of violence, but they were never punished.
Gilbert Bwana Arinaitwe, who in April 2011, smashed the windscreen of Dr Besigye’s car, sprayed his eyes with pepper spray; the officers who in April 2012 squeezed Ms Ingrid Turinawe’s breast and; the six police officers who beat up Dr Besigye’s supporters in 2016 got off with at most “severe reprimands”.
This inaction leads to a lack of public confidence in the state organs ability to do the right thing and to above all to dispense justice.
That inaction also precipitates skepticism. That perhaps explains why human rights activists did not take the President seriously in August last year when he condemned acts of torture carried out by members of the armed forces and warned them against barking at or beating suspects, detention of suspects for long periods.
So whereas the President’s declaration is welcome, it will be of no more than token value if it is not followed by decisive action against the perpetrators of abuses.
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