Amnesty International Report 1996 - Uganda

One prisoner of conscience, a journalist, was held for four months. More than 100 people were detained without charge, or charged with treason. There were reports of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners. Courts continued to impose sentences of caning. Extrajudicial executions were reported. At least 17 people were sentenced to death. There were no reports of executions. Armed opposition groups were responsible for serious human rights abuses. Armed conflict continued during the year between the National Resistance Army, whose name was changed in October to the Uganda People's Defence Forces, and two armed opposition groups, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) operating in the north, and the West Nile Bank Front operating in the northwest. The Constituent Assembly promulgated a new Constitution in October. The Constitution provided for the setting up of a Human Rights Commission to investigate human rights violations and for the establishment of political parties, but political activity continued to be restricted. For example, opposition parties were not allowed to operate branch offices or hold public rallies. The death penalty was retained. In June Uganda acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and it acceded to its (First) Optional Protocol in November. Several public meetings by members of opposition political parties and the government were stopped by armed police and Local Defence Units (LDUS) in accordance with Internal Affairs Ministry guidelines banning Constituent Assembly delegates from addressing meetings outside their constituencies. The LDUS, which operate in collaboration with the security forces, are not part of the formal police force or the army and there is no statute governing their functions or powers. In September a ban was placed on all public meetings in Kitgum District following increased insurgency in the area by the LRA. Legislative and presidential elections scheduled for December 1995 were postponed until 1996. The report of the Commission of Inquiry established in 1986 to investigate human rights abuses between 1962 and 1986, before the government of President Yoweri Museveni came to power (see Amnesty International Report 1995), was published in mid-1995. The Commission found that widespread arbitrary arrests, detentions and imprisonment had been condoned during this period and recommended the repeal of laws which allowed for detention without trial. The report also noted that many people had been subjected to torture and that political trials by the Military Tribunal had been unfair and unconstitutional. The government reportedly accepted most of the Commission's recommendations, including the establishment of a permanent Human Rights Commission which was included in the new Constitution. In September a nine-day strike by medical workers for higher pay was declared illegal. Three leading officials of the Ugandan Medical Workers' Union were arrested, including the Chairman, Dr Apollo Nyangasi, and the Secretary General, Dr Sam Lyomoki. They were charged with neglect of duty and disobeying a lawful order and were released on bail after four days in custody. In August, two editors were arrested after publishing articles critical of President Yoweri Museveni. Haruna Kanaabi, editor of the Shariat newspaper, was charged with sedition and denied bail. He was convicted in December and sentenced to five months' imprisonment, but released eight days later after having spent four months imprisoned on remand. He was a prisoner of conscience. Haji Hussein Musa Njuki, editor of Assalaam was taken to Mariandina Clinic in Kamwokya, because he was seriously ill. He died four days later of severe anaemia and heart failure. Earlier, in April, Lawrence Kiwanuka, editor of The Citizen newspaper, was arrested and charged with sedition. He was a possible prisoner of conscience. He was released on bail and fled to Kenya alleging that he had received threats. At least 110 people were arrested and charged with treason or misprision of treason during the year. In the past the authorities had used treason charges, which automatically preclude the granting of bail for 480 days, as a means of holding suspected government opponents for long periods without bringing them to trial. Some were detained for several months before being charged: for example, Major Reuben Ikondere was arrested in May and detained in Makindye Military Police barracks until a habeas corpus petition resulted in the authorities bringing him to court in October. The majority of the 168 or more suspected LRA rebels arrested in 1994 (see Amnesty International Report 1995) and 1995 who were detained without charge or trial in Gulu military barracks in northern Uganda were released, most of them before April. Several others were reported to have been transferred to police custody and charged with treason. Eight Burundi army officers detained without charge or trial since November 1994 in Makindye Military Police barracks were released during the year. They were alleged to have participated in a 1993 coup attempt in Burundi. One other was still held without charge or trial at the end of the year. There were further reports of torture by members of the LDUS and the security forces. In October, two suspected tax defaulters were allegedly tortured by ldu members in Malera, Kumi district. Both men were admitted to hospital in a critical condition. One was urinating blood; he claimed that his genitals had been kicked and tied with string. At least three people were reported to have died in custody in suspicious circumstances. One of them, Ebonga George, was found hanged in Ayer sub-county administration police cells in July. A post-mortem revealed that he had died of internal bleeding, that he had swollen cheeks and a ruptured bladder and that he was probably dead before he was hanged. Human rights violations by members of the army continued. In April Charles-Byalega Atwooki died at Muhoti army barracks, reportedly as a result of torture. In May, two suspected rebels were said to have been tortured at Singo military training camp, Kiboga district. One, Jackson Kiija, reportedly died as a result of his injuries. There were apparently no judicial inquiries into this death, or into any of these reports of torture by LDUS, police or soldiers. Courts continued to impose sentences of caning – a cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. In October Stephen Ikodian was sentenced to five strokes of the cane for attempted rape. In November Mikairo Oketcho was sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane by Kotch Clan court, Tororo district. Extrajudicial executions by members of the ldu in the north of the country continued. In October, three alleged criminals were shot dead by an ldu firing-squad. The three had been accused of "terrorizing people" in Minakulu and Chegere sub-counties in Apac district. At least 17 people were sentenced to death, including one woman, Justine Nankya, for murder or aggravated robbery. The Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence on at least two people convicted of treason in 1993. No executions were reported, for the first time since 1986. The LRA was responsible for serious human rights abuses, including rape and deliberate and arbitrary killings. In April more than 200 civilians were deliberately killed in raids by the LRA, including 159 in Gulu district. In response, Uganda severed diplomatic relations with Sudan, which allegedly provided assistance to the LRA, for two months. The LRA reportedly abducted at least 400 children aged between eight and 16 during the year, many of whom were reported to have been ill-treated. The fate and whereabouts of many of them remained unknown at the end of the year. In January Amnesty International published a report on several African countries, including Uganda, in which criminal charges such as sedition have been used to harass government critics, and called for an end to such practices (see Kenya entry). Amnesty International visited Uganda in August to attend a conference on documenting human rights abuses against women and to meet representatives of human rights organizations.