By Spy Uganda
Kampala: A group of youths under their umbrella association of Torture Survivors of Uganda has petitioned UN to stop funding Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC).
After delivering the petition, Sserunkuuma and group revealed that he was arrested in November 2020 and kept incommunicado for more than three weeks. His relatives and friends pronounced him dead and held a funeral service at their home in Wakiso District. Two days later, pictures of him appeared on social media indicating that he was held at Kitalya Prison.
The EU delegation in Uganda last week said it shared the public anger about “reports of torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, harassment as well as attacks against human rights defenders”.
President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the east African country since 1986, has long been accused by the opposition as well as some Western governments and pressure groups of using security forces to intimidate and harass opponents, critics and rights activists.The government usually denies such accusations saying most are false while in the cases where abuses have been committed, the perpetrators have been punished.
Ugandan law and international instruments prohibit arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, and torture. The 1995 constitution guarantees the protection of personal liberty and provides that an arrested or detained person should be kept in a place authorized by law. The constitution further requires detainees to be brought before court within 48 hours of their arrest and are entitled to reasonable access to next-of-kin, lawyers, and medical treatment.
The law criminalizes torture under the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act of 2012, and the Human Rights (Enforcement) Act of 2019 provides for personal liability for public officers who commit human rights violations.
