Uganda 2014 Human Rights Report
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UGANDA 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Uganda is a constitutional republic led since 1986 by President Yoweri Museveni of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party. Voters re-elected Museveni to a fourth five-year term and returned an NRM majority to the National Assembly in 2011. While the election marked an improvement over previous elections, it was marred by irregularities. Authorities usually maintained effective control over state security forces (SSF). The three most serious human rights problems in the country were a lack of respect for the integrity of the person (including unlawful killings, torture, and other abuse of suspects and detainees); restrictions on civil liberties (including freedoms of assembly, the media, and association); and violence and discrimination against marginalized groups, such as women (including gender-based violence), children (including sexual abuse and ritual killing), persons with disabilities, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Other human rights problems included harsh prison conditions, arbitrary and politically motivated arrest and detention, incommunicado and lengthy pretrial detention, restrictions on the right to a fair trial, official corruption, mob violence, trafficking in persons, and child labor. Although the government occasionally took steps to punish officials who committed abuses, whether in the security services or elsewhere, impunity was a problem. Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life There were several reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. According to media reports, the SSF used excessive force, included firing live ammunition during joint security operations, to disperse demonstrators and armed robbers in various districts, including Kampala, Wakiso, Jinja, Sembabule, Entebbe, Tororo, Gulu, Mbale, Arua, Lira, Luweero, and Jinja, resulting in at least 16 deaths. UGANDA 2 On January 20, police in Jinja killed Rahsid Ntale, a seventh-grade pupil, when they fired live bullets to stop a student riot in the Bugembe sports stadium. On February 24, authorities arrested two police officers, Patrick Nuwagaba and Constable Julian Mucunguzi. On February 25, a court in Jinja charged them with murder and remanded them to prison. The case was pending at year’s end. On July 5, more than 100 persons were killed in 13 coordinated attacks in the Rwenzori Region. In the largest of the attacks, a group of ethnic Bakonzo attacked the Kanyamwirima Army Barracks in Bundibugyo. The Ugandan People’s Defense Force (UPDF) reportedly killed up to 50 of the attackers, who were subsequently buried in a mass grave along with other victims of attacks in Bundibugyo. Local politicians and lawyers claimed that among the deceased were civilians who were caught in the crossfire as they were running toward the barracks to seek shelter, a charge government and UPDF officials denied. The UPDF claimed it had conducted internal investigations into the matter and planned to exhume the grave, but it had not made its findings public by year’s end. Local residents also claimed that civilians in Bamba and Basongoro committed reprisal attacks and killings against Bakonzos in Bundibugyo in the days following the initial attack. Officials arrested 183 suspects and imprisoned 170 of them during their trial by two court martials (see section 1.e.). On December 8, the military court in Bundibugyo freed all 126 of its suspects after the government dropped charges; 44 suspects still faced trial by a court martial in Kasese. Officials granted amnesty to at least 540 persons who were not arrested and voluntarily claimed involvement in the attacks after they completed a two-month “psycho-social” rehabilitation. Human Rights Watch called the government’s investigation of the violence and response to alleged reprisal attacks “inadequate.” There were developments in the 2013 arbitrary killings by the UPDF. For example, on May 21, a court martial in Mbarara District sentenced Corporal Peter Maliamungu to 40 years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of killing Angel Kobushenshe in February 2013. b. Disappearance There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor UGANDA 3 The constitution and law prohibit such practices. The 2012 Antitorture Bill stipulates that any person convicted of an act of torture may be subject to 15 years’ imprisonment, a fine of 7.2 million shillings ($2,860), or both. The penalty for aggravated torture is life imprisonment. There were credible reports the SSF tortured and beat suspects. The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), and international and local human rights organizations reported incidents of torture by the SSF, including rape, severe beating, and kicking. Between January and September, the African Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV) registered 224 allegations of torture against police, 65 against the UPDF, 23 against prison inmates, 27 against local officials and crime preventers (individuals trained by police to provide village security), and 29 against prison officials. In addition, the ACTV assisted 162 former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abductees in filing claims against the LRA for torture in years past. The SSF’s use of excessive force and torture during arrests and other law enforcement operations resulted in casualties. For example, on May 8, authorities arrested three police officers for shooting and injuring Richard Ojulo, a suspected robber in Tororo District. After the investigation, police exonerated two of the suspected officers. On June 13, a court charged police corporal Tomasi Okumu with the attempted murder of Ojulo and remanded him to prison. A hearing of the case was scheduled for January 20, 2015. There were numerous reports of torture and abuse in police detention facilities. For example, on August 25, police in Mityana District allegedly tortured and extorted money from Hassan Matovu after accusing him of being a terrorist on the police wanted list. Matovu said he was released after two days without charge. Matovu filed a complaint with the police Professional Standards Unit, and an investigation was pending at year’s end. On November 6, police authorities in Mityana District reported that Naboth Rwabihegye, an officer in charge of the Kiryokaya police post, and crime preventers Robert Ndiwalana and Isma Kiggundu were exonerated for the February 2013 alleged torture and death of suspect Anatoli Kisembo after a post mortem showed he died of natural causes. In 2013 the UHRC reported awarding 1.3 billion shillings ($480,000) to victims of torture and other abuses. The director of litigation in the office of the attorney general reported that the government paid about 500 million shilling ($185,000) in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor UGANDA 4 compensation to torture victims in the last financial year. During 2013 the UHRC reported registering 13 human rights complaints against private individuals, 36 against UPDF soldiers, 188 against police officers, eight against local government authorities, three against Internal Security Organization personnel, 26 against prison wardens, and two against other government departments. Of the complaints, 34 percent involved allegations of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment. Despite a reduction from the previous year, UHRC noted the alleged violations mostly occurred during pretrial detention, interrogation, and arrest of suspected offenders. There were reports that some UPDF soldiers in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) sexually exploited and abused Somali women and girls. For example, in August the minister of defense, while appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs, reported the arrest in Somalia of an unnamed UPDF soldier, who allegedly defiled a Somali girl and was deported to the country to face a court martial. A September 8 Human Rights Watch report documented 24 cases of sexual exploitation and abuse, including rape, by Ugandan and Burundian AMISOM personnel. In an October 23 editorial in the New Vision newspaper, UPDF spokesperson Paddy Ankunda confirmed that the UPDF was “instituting an inquiry into allegations of sexual harassment of Somali women by its soldiers in AMISOM. Those found culpable will feel the full wrath of the law.” UPDF investigations into the allegations continued as of the end of 2014. Mob violence remained a problem. Mobs attacked and killed persons suspected of robbery, murder, rape, ritual sacrifice, and witchcraft, among other crimes. Mobs beat, lynched, burned, and otherwise brutalized their victims (see section 6). Prison and Detention Center Conditions Prison conditions remained poor and, in some cases, life threatening. Serious problems included long periods of pretrial custody, overcrowding, inadequate food, and understaffing. Local human rights groups, including the Foundation for Human Rights Initiatives (FHRI), received reports the SSF and prison wardens tortured inmates, particularly in government prisons, military facilities, and unregistered detention centers. Isolated reports of forced labor