Amnesty International Report 2000 - Uganda

Head of state: Yoweri Museveni
Head of government: Apollo Nsibambi
Capital: Kampala
Population: 20.3 million
Official language: English
Death penalty: retentionist
1999 treaty ratifications/signatures: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Hundreds of political prisoners, including a number of prisoners of conscience, were arrested during 1999. Some were held in illegal detention centres. Prisoners continued to be held without trial on serious charges that preclude bail for statutory periods. Many prisoners were held beyond the statutory period. More than 500 prisoners charged with treason in 1997 were released after trial. There were reports of torture and possible extrajudicial executions by members of the security forces, and at least one person died as a result of torture. Human rights abuses by armed opposition groups continued throughout 1999. Hundreds of civilians were displaced because of the threat of abduction, rape and deliberate and arbitrary killing. Courts continued to impose the cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment of caning. Prison conditions were harsh. The death penalty was used extensively: 28 people were executed in April and at least 62 people were sentenced to death, including one woman. A total of 269 people were under sentence of death at the end of 1999.

Background

Human rights abuses were committed in the context of warfare in northern and western Uganda between the government's Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and armed opposition groups supported by the government of Sudan. Bomb attacks in Kampala brought the conflict to the capital in the first part of the year. In December an Amnesty Act was passed, offering an amnesty to all rebel fighters who gave themselves up and handed in their weapons. The legislation raised concerns regarding impunity for armed opposition groups who have been responsible for serious human rights abuses. The day after the Act was passed, Sudan and Uganda signed an agreement to disband and disarm armed opposition groups based in their respective countries.

There were reports of extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations by the UPDF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ugandan forces have been fighting in the DRC in support of a rebellion by the Mouvement pour la libération du Congo, Movement for the Liberation of Congo, and a faction of the Congolese armed opposition group the Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, the Congolese Rally for Democracy, since August 1998.

In July and September, in the eastern Moroto district, cattle raids between the Mathenikos and the Bokoras, sub-clans of the Karamojong, resulted in hundreds of people being killed, many of them women and children. In August a senior army officer stated that Karamojong warriors found with guns along the main highway would be shot on sight. The directive followed a series of incidents in which armed Karamojong had shot at vehicles on the road.

In July a Referendum Act was passed, providing for a referendum in 2000 on whether Uganda should change its political system from the current "movement" system which does not allow political parties to contest elections, in preparation for presidential and parliamentary elections in 2001. Critics of the government expressed concern that restrictions on freedom of association and expression unfairly inhibited proponents of a multi-party system. A number of political parties threatened to boycott the forthcoming elections and there were allegations by the government that pro-democracy groups opposed to the referendum had turned to armed opposition. In July a leading government opponent was killed, reportedly in a shoot-out with the UPDF in Apac district, and a number of others were arrested and accused of belonging to an alleged armed opposition group, the Citizens Army for Multiparty Politics. In December a Bill was passed – the Other Political Systems Bill – which provided the legal framework for alternatives to the "movement" to be set up.

In November the Ugandan Human Rights Commission opened an office in Gulu, northern Uganda, the first of six regional offices, and began hearing cases of human rights violations by security officers.

Abuses by armed opposition groups

Human rights abuses by the Allied Democratic Front (ADF), based in the DRC, intensified during 1999. There were reports of deliberate and arbitrary killings, abductions and rape of civilians during attacks on schools, villages and camps for the people displaced by the fighting. More than 100,000 people have been displaced in Bundibugyo and Kasese districts, western Uganda, since ADF attacks began in 1997.

Human rights abuses by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continued during 1999, although to a lesser extent than in previous years following a significant drop in incursions from Sudan into northern Uganda. However, in December more than 150 supporters of the LRA moved into Uganda from Sudan after the agreement between Uganda and Sudan was signed and a number of attacks on civilians were reported. In December, two senior LRA commanders responsible for serious human rights abuses were executed in Sudan reportedly on the orders of Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA.

Rwandese members of the interahamwe militia were believed to be responsible for attacks on civilians in Uganda during the year.

• In March members of the interahamwe attacked a tourist camp in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, southwest Uganda, killing the local conservation officer, John Ross Wagaba, and abducting 14 tourists. Eight of the tourists were killed and the remaining six released.

Human rights violations by the security forces

There were reports of detention without trial, torture and possible extrajudicial executions by the security services.

Political prisoners

Hundreds of political prisoners were arrested during 1999, many of whom were held without charge beyond the legal limit of 48 hours, some in illegal detention centres. In February the Minister of Internal Affairs, Major Tom Butime, acknowledged in Parliament that the government had been using illegal detention centres to detain suspects and stated that in future special cells in police stations would be used to detain people suspected of terrorist offences. However, illegal detention centres were reportedly still being used in October.

More than 60 suspected government opponents were charged with treason, which precludes bail for at least 360 days.

Five hundred prisoners were released during 1999 after they were tried and acquitted of treason. More than 400 political prisoners remained in custody, held on treason charges, three years after their arrest.

In December, 30 prisoners rioted in Central Police Station claiming that they had been held for six months without charge.

Torture and killings

In January the Acting Inspector General of Police, John Kisembo, criticized police officers for torture, excessive use of force and unlawful arrests. He said that those involved would be punished. However, there continued to be reports of torture throughout 1999 and at least one person died as a result of torture.

• In February, two teenage girls were raped while in police custody. The girls, who were under arrest at Kabujogera Police Post, Kabarole, had been handed over to two members of the Local Defence Unit by a police constable for money. Two of these three men were later arrested.
• In October, Yusuf Waiswa died shortly after he was released from Buwenge Police Post where he had reportedly been tortured. Following his funeral, hundreds of people rioted and were beaten and shot at by police. Several bystanders received gunshot wounds. A police constable was arrested, charged with the murder of Yusuf Waiswa and released on bail.

There were reports of killings by the security forces during 1999; some may have been extrajudicial executions.

• In February, two UPDF soldiers killed five suspected criminals including Julius Sabiiti who was 13 years old. According to eyewitnesses they had been disarmed, made to lie down and then shot. The soldiers were arrested and charged with murder.

Freedom of association and expression

Constitutional restrictions on political activity prevented political parties from meeting.

• In November police prevented the launch of the Federal Multi-party (FeParty), stating that the ban on political parties remained. FeParty was finally launched in December.

Journalists continued to be harassed and arrested for their reporting and three faced charges of sedition at the end of the year. In November journalists demonstrated in Kampala against the laws on sedition and criminal libel.

Detention because of sexual orientation

In September, following reports in the Ugandan press of a wedding between two men, President Museveni directed the police to arrest and charge all homosexuals. Homosexuality is a crime in Uganda and carries a penalty of life imprisonment. There followed reports of harassment of people for their sexual orientation.

• In October, five people were reportedly arrested at a meeting by army and police officers, accused of being homosexual and held illegally for up to two weeks in illegal detention centres, army barracks and police stations before being released without charge. A number of Ugandans fled the country fearing arrest. In November President Museveni stated that homosexuals could live in Uganda as long as they kept their sexual orientation secret.

Death penalty

In April, 28 men were executed, the largest group of prisoners executed for many years and the first executions since 1996. In December the Ugandan Cabinet rejected recommendations by the Law Reform Commission to end the death penalty for rapists and defilers. There were 269 prisoners on death row, including 150 soldiers, at the end of 1999. Forty-four were apparently facing imminent execution.

Prison conditions

Prison conditions were harsh, with severe overcrowding, and disease was rife.

• In November Kakiika prison, Mbarara, originally built for 130 prisoners, was holding 819 inmates and had converted three pit latrines into cells. More than 120 prisoners were in the sick bay suffering from scabies and syphilis.

AI country reports and visits

Report

• Uganda: Breaking the circle – protecting human rights in the northern war zone (AI Index: AFR 59/001/99)

Visit

AI delegates visited Uganda in March to launch the report on human rights in the northern war zone. The report documented a pattern of human rights violations by government forces in northern Uganda and urged the government to implement a coordinated program of action to address human rights violations and end impunity. It also called on the LRA to end child abductions and other human rights abuses and on the Sudanese government to stop providing assistance to the LRA. The delegates met government officials, human rights activists and others.