{"id":25648,"date":"2022-02-03T20:57:54","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T20:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=25648"},"modified":"2022-02-03T20:36:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T20:36:07","slug":"torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts","title":{"rendered":"Torture perverts course of justice- legal experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Article 24 of Uganda\u2019s Constitution prohibits acts of unlawful arrest, torture, and illegal detention of suspected criminals.<\/p>\n

However, several Ugandans continue to report that they have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by members of various security agencies in total disregard for the law. As Walter Mwesigye reports, experts of the law say this kind of abuse dents the process of justice.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

One of the recent victims of torture is the National Unity Platform (NUP)\u2019s Kasese District coordinator, Samuel Masereka.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me to remove all of my clothes. They caned me on every part. Even the private part, they do not spare it,\u201d Masereka told NTV Uganda.<\/p>\n

The other victim is Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who appeared in court limping and his body covered with torture marks.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Security reading different script!<\/b><\/p>\n

Last August, President Museveni spoke against what he described as primitive and traditional methods of getting information from suspected criminals.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t beat members of the public, do not beat criminals. You are not allowed to beat anybody because it is backward, it is criminality,\u201d Mr Museveni said in a televised address.<\/p>\n

But hardly a year later, some security operatives are seemingly reading from a different script from that of the Commander-In-Chief.<\/p>\n

In 2018, while he was Chief Justice, Bart Katureebe expressed his dissatisfaction with the torture of suspects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d Katureebe told the media.<\/p>\n

READ:<\/b><\/p>\n

Novelist Kakwenza was tortured, says rights body<\/p>\n

Writer Kakwenza, and the sum of our worst fears<\/p>\n

VIDEO: Museveni slams \u2018lazy\u2019 investigators for torturing suspects in security custody<\/p>\n

Opposition skeptical about Museveni U-turn on torture<\/p>\n

Novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija displays torture marks inflicted on him during his detention. PHOTO\/ DAVID LUBOWA<\/p>\n

Send strong message<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d Mr Musisi says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d Judiciary spokesperson, Mr Jameson Karemani said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur human rights record is incomparable to any in the world. The NRM never believes in revenge,\u201d Mr Museveni boasted.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Compromising prosecutions<\/p>\n

The president of the Uganda Law society Pheona Nabasa Wall says justice must be seen to be done and not merely talked about.<\/p>\n

“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,\u201d Ms Nabasa argues.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Worsening restrictions on civic space in Uganda<\/b><\/p>\n

After the Universal Periodic Review 40th 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\u2019s concerned about worsening restrictions on civic space in Uganda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States appreciates Uganda\u2019s 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,\u201d the statement reads in part.<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/b><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Article 24 of Uganda\u2019s Constitution prohibits acts of unlawful arrest, torture, and illegal detention of suspected criminals. However, several Ugandans continue to report that they have been arbitrarily detained and tortured by members of various security agencies in total disregard for the law. As Walter Mwesigye reports, experts of the law say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":25647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-25648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nTorture perverts course of justice- legal experts - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Article 24 of Uganda\u2019s Constitution prohibits acts of unlawful arrest, torture, and illegal detention of suspected crimi ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Torture perverts course of justice- legal experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Article 24 of Uganda\u2019s Constitution prohibits acts of unlawful arrest, torture, and illegal detention of suspected crimi ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-03T20:57:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/02\/img-61fc3c9db1c8f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Torture perverts course of justice- legal experts\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T20:57:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts\"},\"wordCount\":990,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/02\/img-61fc3c9db1c8f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/torture-perverts-course-of-justice-legal-experts\",\"name\":\"Torture perverts course of justice- legal experts - 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