Introduction
Uganda ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment and Punishment in 1986. As the U.N. Committee against
Torture scrutinizes Uganda's compliance with the Convention, Human Rights Watch
and Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) would like to take the
opportunity to put forward a report on this important matter for its
consideration. This briefing paper is based on interviews that Human Rights
Watch and FHRI have conducted between May 2004 and March 2005. In order to
protect identity of the victims, their names have been changed, unless victims
expressly agreed to be named.
Patterns and cases of torture
In Uganda, government authorities frequently employ torture against government
opponents, ordinary civilians accused of supporting rebel groups, as well as
suspected common criminals. Members of the opposition Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC) and civilians in northern Uganda in particular have often become
victims of torture and ill-treatment.
Victims have been severely beaten with rifle butts, sticks, electric cables and
other objects. Other methods of torture include tying the hands and feet behind
the victim ("kandoya"), keeping detainees in pits in the ground; exposing the
victim with mouth open to a water spigot, and inflicting injury to the penis
and testicles. Withholding or denying necessary medical attention has resulted
in more severe, even permanent, injury.
Human Rights Watch and FHRI have described a pattern of torture and
ill-treatment in Uganda in previous publications.1 As of March 2005, torture
and ill-treatment continued in Uganda, as documented in this submission.
There is a confusing array of security organs in Uganda that have detained and
tortured suspects. In many cases agents carrying out the arrest wear civilian
clothes with no identifying insignia. Under Ugandan law, only the police are
authorized to routinely arrest and investigate crimes, and the only authorized
places of detention for civilians are police and sometimes prison facilities.
Among the agencies against which credible allegations of torture have been made
are the following:
- the Uganda Peoples' Defence Force (UPDF) and its military intelligence
branch, Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI)
- Internal Security Organization (ISO) and its District Security Organizations
(DISO)
- Joint Anti Terrorism Task Force (JAT), a joint body of CMI, ISO and other
security agencies
- Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU), a special unit comprised of CMI, ISO, and
other security agencies, replacing Operation Wembley, tasked with stopping
common crime
- the police and its Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
The most serious abuses seem to occur when suspects are arrested and held by
the army and its intelligence service, the CMI, as well as JAT and the VCCU.
The regular police - i.e. police with no special military or security brief -
have a slightly better record and do not seem to torture suspects as a matter
of course. However, the regular police and other security agencies have also
committed acts of torture and ill-treatment.
When suspects - such as political opponents or alleged 'rebels' - are held by
the army, CMI, JAT or VCCU, they are often held in "ungazetted" or unauthorized
places of detention or "safe houses", where torture can and does take place
without any observers. The government has repeatedly denied the existence of
safe houses. In a meeting with Human Rights Watch on April 14, 2005, Defence
Minister Amama Mbabazi stated that there are safe houses which are used by
security services to do their intelligence work. He conceded that suspects may
be interrogated in safe houses but denied that people are detained there.2
However, field research by Human Rights Watch and FHRI has found that detainees
were frequently detained in safe houses for days, weeks, and months at a time.
For example, civilians have been and continue to be held at an unauthorized JAT
detention centre in the Kololo neighborhood of Kampala and at other safe
houses. Civilians are also often held for prolonged periods i
n army barracks in different parts of the country, especially the north and
west, although by law the army is allowed to carry out arrests only in
emergency situations and should promptly transfer the suspect to police
custody. On some occasions in recent years, the security agencies and CMI have
transferred detainees for the night in a police station and kept them all day
at a safe house where the interrogation and torture takes place. This may be an
effort to create a veneer of legality.
Human Rights Watch and FHRI have also found that the army, CMI, JAT and VCCU
torture or ill-treat suspects frequently. As illustrated below, suspects are
often detained by one of these agencies incommunicado in a safe house or
barracks, and tortured or ill-treated to make a confession or to punish them
for refusing to confess. Later, they are taken to a police station where they
often suffer less abuse, and where the confession is taken again, sometimes in
front of those who conducted the torture. Suspects are then charged by the
police and produced in the Magistrate's Court and judicially charged with
treason or terrorism.
Under the Ugandan constitution, treason and terrorism suspects can be detained
for 360 days without trial and without bail. In many cases charges are dropped
when the suspects are released on bail after the 360 days. In other cases,
defendants seek amnesty for treason or terrorism, which requires a confession
of guilt. The defendants sometimes seek amnesty because of the extreme slowness
of the judicial system and the protracted time they must await trial.
Human rights observers have been denied access to unofficial places of
detention. While the government readily allows independent observers to visit
regular prisons and police stations, it is very difficult to get access to
military barracks, CMI facilities, and other "ungazetted" and thus illegal
places of detention such as the JAT detention facility in Kololo, Kampala,
where many victims claim to have been tortured. During a recent visit to
Uganda, Human Rights Watch was denied access by army officials to the military
barracks in Gulu and Makindye to interview detainees in private.3 Human Rights
Watch was offered the opportunity to interview detainees in front of their
guards, but decided not to do so as this is not conducive to an open discussion
with the detainee.
Torture of political opponents
Political opponents have frequently been threatened, arrested, detained,
ill-treated and tortured. Particularly targeted are those who supported Kiiza
Besigye in the 2001 presidential election, and who subsequently formed a
political group called Reform Agenda. Besigye was President Museveni's
strongest opponent in that election and fled the country in 2001 after
harassment. In 2004 Reform Agenda merged with other groups to form what is now
a registered political party, the FDC.9
Security agencies claim that members of Reform Agenda - now in the FDC - are
actively involved with the People's Redemption Army (PRA). The PRA is a rebel
group based in the Ituri district of the eastern Democratic Republic of
Congo.10 While dozens of political opponents and others have been arrested in
connection with the PRA, no criminal trial has shown the link between the PRA
and Reform Agenda or the FDC. Many observers believe that it poses little
threat to security, law and order. Others have questioned the existence of the
PRA because it has not conducted military operations inside Uganda. Some
detainees have "confessed" PRA links to the press while in military custody and
later said these confessions were made under duress. These detainees have been
charged with treason or terrorism and detained for prolonged periods. A few
have been amnestied and released.
Patrick Biryomumeisho, a Besigye campaigner and an elected official (LC-3) in
Kabale district, southwestern Uganda, was arrested on May 2, 2003 and taken to
an illegal detention centre run by CMI in Kampala where he was held for several
months. He was accused of supporting Besigye and the PRA. According to
Biryomumeisho, he was tortured during his detention at the CMI detention
centre. CMI agents beat him with an iron bar and other instruments, and kicked
him, injuring the testicles, left clavicle, and right back shoulder. They also
hit his big toe with a hammer, causing the nail to fall off after several
weeks. He had a red chemical substance poured into his eyes that made him blind
for several weeks and impaired his vision for months afterwards. In July 2003
he was charged and sent to Kigo Prison. When Biryomumeisho's detention exceeded
the legal limit of 360 days, and after his lawyer brought a habeas corpus, he
was released on August 2, 2004. The Director of Public Prosec
utions (DPP) then withdrew the case against him. He has filed a civil suit
before the Uganda Human Rights Commission, seeking damages for torture.11
On January 12, 2003, security officials arrested Pascal Gakyaro, a retired
civil aviation engineer and supporter of Reform Agenda. He was held in
unofficial places of detention for eight days and beaten during that period. On
January 20, 2003, after the intervention of an MP and a High Court order,
Gakyaro was charged with treason before the High Court. He was released on bail
in July 2003, but re-arrested and only released in January 2005. The charges
against him were dropped.12 Pascal Gakyaro sought legal action, and on June
2004, the High Court ordered the government to pay thirty million Ugandan
Shillings (about U.S. $ 17,000) compensation for unlawful arrest, detention and
torture. However the damages have not been paid yet.13
In January 2003, Francisco Ogwang Olebe, a Reform Agenda activist, was detained
and tortured in a CMI safe house. His neck was dislocated as a result of the
torture. He was charged with treason along with four others. After he was
released on bail, he brought legal action in 2004 against the Attorney General
for his torture and illegal detention. The High Court ruled in his favor, as
the Attorney General did not appear, and awarded him eighty million Ugandan
Shillings (about U.S. $ 45,000) as compensation. His bail was revoked on
January 17, 2005, on the grounds that the case was ready for trial, and he was
detained again. By March 2005, Francisco Ogwang Olebe was still in Luzira
prison awaiting trial. The award of damages has not been paid by the Ugandan
government.14
There have been a number of arrests of government opponents in late 2004 and
early 2005. Among them were FDC officials as well as many other less prominent
political figures. Those arrested in early 2005 and held on terrorism or
treason charges are likely to be unable to campaign during or participate in
the March 2006 presidential elections, unless they are tried unusually fast.15
As the testimonies below indicate, there is a risk that political opponents are
held on treason charges merely with the aim of punishing them and instilling
fear.
On November 24, 2004, soldiers arrested Steven K., a businessman and known
government critic in Koboko town, Arua district in northwestern Uganda. They
accused him of being a rebel and illegally possessing guns. According to the
victim, he was carrying out a government-managed demobilization process with
members of a former rebel group and had been authorized to buy back arms in
that context. The soldiers tied his hands and legs together behind his back
("kandoya") and cut him with a bayonet. He was held for one day in a pit at
Koboko army barracks. After eight days of detention in Arua barracks where he
had to suffer further abuse, he was transferred to the JAT safe house in
Kololo, Kampala. Steven K. was again accused of being a rebel. They tied a
stone to his penis with a short rope while he was in a squatting position, then
forced him to jump in the air. He was forced to stand under a tap which jetted
out water onto his head at such high pressure that he fainted several t
imes and was eventually taken for treatment. At the time of this writing he
was being held on treason charges in Luzira Prison. Steven K. told researchers
that he saw other detainees in Kololo who were tortured "worse than me" and
"who could not move".16
In December 2004, Robert M., a leading member of the FDC, was arrested by CMI
agents at Makerere University in Kampala. He told a Human Rights Watch
researcher that he was accused of having links with the PRA rebel group and
told, "We are going to throw you into Luzira for a year. We shall see whether
you shall not reduce that noise. You are on treason." Robert M. was detained
for three days at the JAT safe house in Kololo where his torturers stripped him
naked, severely beat him, mutilated his penis with a razor blade, and
threatened to kill him. Following his ordeal he was taken to the Criminal
Investigations Department where he signed a statement under duress; he did not
know the contents. He was being held on treason charges at Luzira Prison at the
time of this writing.17
In late January 2005, Godfrey G., an opposition politician was arrested by ISO
officials and held by CMI at the army barracks in Arua for almost two weeks. He
was accused of planning "military activities" with Kiiza Besigye. According to
his testimony, he was kicked and beaten badly, and he had a weight tied with a
short rope to his testicles and penis while he was squatting; he was then
forced to lift up, which was so painful that he declared he would rather be
killed. Godfrey G. also had several liters of dirty water poured down his nose
and mouth, the "Liverpool" treatment. The man was then taken to the JAT safe
house in Kololo where he was beaten very severely on the chest, causing him to
collapse. After almost two weeks, he was sent to court to be charged. As of the
writing of this report, he was held at Luzira Prison and is charged with
involvement in the PRA.18
High-profile politicians are not exempt from ill-treatment. On November 22,
2004, soldiers of the Ugandan People's Defence Force beat three members of
parliament in Acholi Bur, Pader district, northern Uganda, as they arrived to
have a meeting with residents to discuss the government's White Paper on the
constitution. The victims, some of whom had wounds from the beatings, were
Ministers of Parliament (MPs) Odonga Otto, Prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo, Michael
Nyeko Ocula and their drivers. Odonga Otto had swollen arms and legs, Prof.
Latigon suffered from head injuries and Michael Nyeko Ocula had swelling on the
head and back.19
In November 2004, Reform Agenda's Secretary for Information and Publicity,
Dennis Savimbi Muhumuza, was reportedly caned sixty-five times by an
intelligence officer because he was distributing Reform Agenda magazines and
campaigning for the group without police permission. According to an FDC
spokesperson he was also held at gunpoint, kicked and beaten.20
Torture of alleged common criminals by the VCCU
Suspected common criminals are frequently tortured, in particular when they are
detained by the VCCU. The VCCU is the successor of Operation Wembley, which was
tasked with cracking down on crime in Kampala starting in 2002. Many victims
interviewed reported that they had been severely beaten and were still
suffering the results.
In December 2003, Michael K., a forty-year-old man traveling by car from Masaka
to Kampala was stopped by VCCU officers and told, "Black should come out."
(Black was a notorious robber; this man denied that he was Black.) He was held
at VCCU headquarters in Kireka, to the eastern edge of Kampala, for three weeks
and then transferred to the Central Police Station in Kampala. He related that
during his detention at VCCU, he was beaten with batons, wires, and sticks on
the back, chest, knees and ankles. The torture resulted in swollen and deformed
knees and many scars on his ankles.4
Brian L., a thirty-two-year-old man from Luwero, was arrested in January 2004
and accused of stealing a motorcycle. He was arrested by four plainclothed men
in a white car, who immediately beat him to extract information about the
stolen motorcycle. According to the man, his captors hit the back of his knees,
his ankles and genitals. This caused the victim to become incontinent. Brian
L.'s itinerary shows how many agencies can be involved in a case, even when it
concerns a minor crime: He was held briefly at CMI offices in Kitante, Kampala,
then at Luwero police station, then at the VCCU headquarters and then at the
Central Police Station in Kampala.5
In April 2004, Ben T., a car washer in Kampala was arrested on allegations of
car theft. According to Ben T., he was first brought to Central Police Station
in Kampala where he spent five days. As he was about to be released on police
bond, the police Criminal Investigations Department objected. He was then taken
to VCCU headquarters, Kireka, Kampala, where he spent eight days. He was beaten
with a baton and electric wires after his hands were tied around his legs. Ben
T. had swollen legs and could not move his legs as a result of the beatings.
When he was brought back to the police station he sought medical attention but
was only given a pain killer. As a result of the torture, Ben T. had difficulty
walking. He was released in June 2004.6
In some cases, suspects were not only beaten, but subjected to other types of
torture. In November 2003, John W., a twenty-two-year-old man from Mengo,
Kampala, was eating lunch when VCCU officers came to arrest the person sitting
next to him. He told a FHRI researcher that he asked where they were taking the
man, which angered the officers so that they arrested him as well. During his
one week detention at VCCU headquarters, he had his right small finger chopped
off by a VCCU officer. VCCU agents also beat him with wire on the chest, and he
still has scars from the beatings. Later John W. was transferred to the Central
Police Station in Kampala, where he had been held for four months at the time
of the interview.7
In early May 2004, Martin O., a twenty-seven-year-old man was arrested in
Kampala by security agents, most likely CMI agents. He said the agents beat him
with metallic bars around the knees and toes while asking about a motorcycle
that had allegedly been stolen. Martin O. was taken to the JAT safe house in
Kololo and later taken to CMI offices on Kitante Road, Kampala. During
interrogations, those detaining him threatened to squeeze his genitals so hard
that he would never have children. They further threatened to beat him if he
did not confess to having stolen that motorcycle.8
Owino New taxi Park, Kafumbe Mukasa Road, Rubaga Church , Muzaana , Lungujja,
Na
Torture of alleged rebels in northern Uganda
Northern Uganda has been wracked by armed conflict between the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) and the government UPDF army over the last eighteen
years. The LRA has committed gross human rights violations against civilians,
such as massacres, sexual slavery, abduction of children, mutilation and
torture. Some of the crimes committed by the LRA amount to crimes against
humanity.21 In 2005, LRA rebels continued to commit abuses against civilians in
northern Uganda. For example, Human Rights Watch interviewed several women
whose lips were cut off by the LRA because the women were allegedly talking to
government soldiers.22
While not on the same scale as the LRA, government forces in northern Uganda
have also committed abuses against civilians, including torture. In some areas,
the majority of the civilians live in camps for internally displaced persons.
The camps are controlled by the army. Civilians in the camps are often accused
of being "rebel collaborators" and then ill-treated or tortured. This happens
frequently in certain areas when civilians breach the curfew, even if by only a
few minutes. The local military battalion imposes a curfew on the civilian
population; it sets a time by which they have to return to the internally
displaced persons camp, and another time by which they have to be inside their
huts. Beating of civilians by soldiers outside of the camps is prevalent in
northern Uganda. In some cases civilians have been beaten even when they
returned before the curfew has begun. Civilians also are beaten up regularly by
soldiers for being out of their huts at night, although they
are inside the camp. These abuses are occurring most frequently in two camps,
Cwero and Awac in Gulu District, where the 11th Battalion is stationed.
Although many have complained about this situation, as of late March 2005 no
corrective action had been taken.
On February 17, 2005, Patrick W., a farmer near Cwero camp was arrested by
soldiers. He had gone back to his old home outside the camp and built a fire
break line around his house to protect his fruit trees, so that he could
provide his family food to supplement the skimpy rations in the camp. The
soldiers accused him of working for the rebels, caned him, and tied a rope
around his testicles and pulled on it. Patrick W. fainted and was taken to
nearby Cwero army barracks. He was released the next day and told never to go
back to his home.23
Odang Binoni, in his seventies, was beaten to death by soldiers on February 19,
2005 in Cwero camp, Gulu district. He was out late at a funeral - funeral wakes
usually continue the whole night - and was hence breaching the curfew rules. He
had gone to the latrine, and when he returned, a soldier hit him with the butt
of his rifle several times in the chest until the old man fell to the ground.
Then several soldiers told the mourners to leave. Odang Binoni died shortly
after of his injuries.24
In other cases, the army arrests and detains people accused of links with the
LRA. Soldiers, similar to other security and intelligence officials, seem to
use ill-treatment and torture as methods of interrogation; questions would be
asked during the beatings about the suspects' links with the rebel LRA. In
several cases victims have been detained in a pit within the barracks.
For example, in August 2003, Bob O., Charles B., James K. and Lucius O. were
arrested by the army at Paicor camp as alleged rebel collaborators and taken to
Paicor military barracks, Gulu district, where they were held in a deep,
mud-filled pit. They were tied back to back to each other until the next
morning. Afterwards, they were detained in a storage building close to the
Acholi Inn in Gulu, where they were interrogated about LRA links, and severely
beaten with sticks in front of the Military Intelligence Coordinator for
northern Uganda, Col. Charles Otema, a senior commander. The following day the
four men were transferred to the police, and shortly after they were charged
with treason and transferred to Gulu Central Prison. After one year, they were
released on bail; the charges are still pending.25
On April 2004, Theodor O. was arrested at Paicor camp on accusations of being a
rebel and owing a gun. During the five days of his detention at Paicor military
barracks, he was held for one day in a pit. During this time he witnessed
severe abuses against other detainees:
There were other people in the pit who were . taken out of the pit and beaten
individually. The way the pit was constructed it had roofing you could peep
through. I saw people beaten on the buttocks, beaten strictly on the buttocks
until the stick was broken, until the buttocks were so swollen the person
couldn't sit. I wasn't beaten but was tied up with rubber - it has ruined the
circulation in my veins in my arms.26
In February 2005, Julius L. was arrested at Pabbo camp, Gulu district, on
accusations of collaborating with the LRA and boasting about being a relative
of Vincent Otti, a senior LRA leader. He was taken to Olwal military barracks
and then forced to go out with soldiers to "show where the rebels were". At one
point the soldiers stopped and hit Julius L. severely on the head, put a rope
around his neck, sat on him and started strangling him. He fainted but
survived, and eventually made it back to his camp. He continues to have body
pain and feel very weak, and has a fracture in the waist.27
State action against torture
Ugandan Human Rights Commission (UHRC)
The UHRC was established under articles 51 to 59 of the Constitution. It is
entrusted with a wide variety of important functions, such as investigating
abuses, carrying out prevention work and trying civil suits regarding human
rights. Its commissioners sit as judges in a human rights tribunal, where they
have the power to make awards of damages for violations of human rights.
According to its most recent report, the UHRC received 446 torture complaints
during 2003. 28 Most complaints were against the police, the army and the VCCU.
The UHRC recognized that most torture complaints were closely linked to three
illegal practices:
The use of torture was closely linked to the use of illegal detention places,
detention beyond 48 hours as stipulated by law and the involvement of other
security organs in police functions.29
Out of the twenty-one complaints resolved by the UHRC Tribunal in 2003, eleven
involved torture. Torture was established in nine of the complaints and in
seven cases, compensation was ordered in favor of the complainants.30 However,
compensation payments have never been made because of general budgetary
constraints in Uganda; no priority for payments is given to human rights
victims.
Another key area of work of the UHRC is civic training and education for the
promotion of respect for human rights. For example, UHRC has carried out
important human rights training with the police and prison officials.31
Criminal prosecution and civil suits regarding torture
In a handful of cases, victims of torture have been able to file civil suits
and have been awarded compensation. Apart from the UHRC tribunal, regular
courts have occasionally dealt with such cases. For example, in two of the
cases mentioned above - Francisco Ogwang Olebe and Pascal Gakyaro - the victims
were awarded compensation although no payment has been made by the Ugandan
government. Some other cases are pending. A girl and a woman who had been raped
by UPDF soldiers and infected with the HIV virus had their case submitted to
the High Court in Gulu on March 25, 2005 and are awaiting the court's decision.
An old man tortured with melted plastic on his back in Gulu brought a suit
against the Attorney General, who did not appear until the end of the trial,
and did not present any witnesses.32
Criminal prosecution is even rarer. Complaints seem to be stifled at the local
level by the local military commander. In almost all cases, the perpetrators
are not punished.
Parliamentary commissions
A Parliamentary Select Committee to Inquire into Election Violence looked at
the misconduct, mismanagement, violence and rigging that characterized the
presidential, parliamentary and local elections held in 2001 and 2002. The
investigations unearthed cases of detention of suspected opposition politicians
in illegal locations, torture and state-sponsored violence against opposition
supporters. Unfortunately the report was never debated in parliament, as it was
said its contents were too sensitive and touched on matters treated in court.33
In 2005, according to donors, this report was finally to be debated in
Parliament; the projected time of late March was not met, however. 34
In 2002, a Select Committee under the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and
Internal Affairs undertook a study of torture, safe houses, and other places of
"ungazetted" (unofficial) detention. Among other things, its members visited
prisons and interviewed many torture survivors. Unfortunately the results of
this study were also not made public.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
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