Matek
Christopher Egesa Ochieng126 They covered his head with a black plastic bag and jumped so hard on his stomach that he lost his breath; it took what seemed to be thirty minutes to start breathing relatively normally again. When he revived somewhat, they stood him up, kicked him, tied him up, and put him inside a vehicle, where his shirt was tied over his head again. Then they took him to another safe house where they spent the rest of the night hitting him in the head with a rod similar to those used as window guards.On the second nightâall the torture occurred at nightâthree men, his interrogators, brought a cable wire and took him into a bathroom, where they stood him in the sink for bathing, and put a wire around his penis. They tightened the wire and he fainted. They beat his mouth and nose and he bled. They tied him by both hands to one side of the window and hit him with the cable wire and wooden rods.127During other nights, he was hit with ropes on his legs, his penis was tied again with the cable, and a piece of plywood with three nails protruding was âhammeredâ into his chest. They took him to Makindye UPDF barracks in Kampala after some two months of this torture. The government denies all allegations of torture.128He did not receive any medical treatment except for penicillin and aspirin and was not seen by any medical worker while in Operation Wembley. He still had scars on his back at the time of his interview, almost a year later. He was warned that they might kill him if he talked about the way he had been treated. 129 Reportedly his penis is permanently deformed.130He finally signed what they wanted, was taken to court on September 17, 2002, and was charged with aggravated robbery and terrorism. He had nine codefendants (two of them soldiers) whom he did not know. As he was charged with a capital crime in a court martial (terrorism), a UPDF defense attorney was appointed for him.131As of the time of the interview, the accused was still in prison.
Christopher Egesa Ochieng, age thirty-two, was the sole support of his wife, son, mother, and his six brothers. He was arrested near Jinja on July 17, 2002, by two soldiers in uniform in July 2002 when returning from the burial of a man who reportedly died in prison. The soldiers took him to a safe house in Kampala that he believes was on Clement Hill Roadâthe then headquarters of Operation Wembleyâwhere he was tortured with many beatings, wires on his genitals, and water torture for two months. The torturers wanted him to say that he had seen people who were committing robberies.He knew his torturers only as âOperation Wembley.â They sometimes wore UPDF uniforms, sometimes not. Torture started with pouring a bucket of water over him, after which he was made to lie down, face up. They poured water all over him.
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
