Detention beyond mandatory 48 hours on the increase-UHRC report

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Torture of suspects and detention beyond 48 hours is on the increase according to Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC).

According to the 2018 Annual Report on the state of human rights, violation of freedom from torture increased by 3% in 2018 with 346 complaints registered compared to 306 cases reported in 2017.

The report, launched on Friday at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala indicates that 80 cases of torture cruelty and inhuman treatment were reported highest in Gulu district followed by 64 cases in Kampala.

Arua and Soroti districts registered the lowest cases of torture with each reporting 21 cases in 2018. 203 cases of torture were reported against Police and 45 against the army.

Other forms of human rights violations that followed included violation of personal liberty, specifically detention beyond the mandatory 48 hours, with over 323 complaints registered.

Detention beyond 48 hours of suspects also had a 16.6% increase from the previous year’s 277 cases.

Yet again police topped the statistics of rights violation with 466 cases, while private individuals follow with 207, Uganda Peoples Defense forces 66 and Uganda Prisons 36 among others.

Dr Roselyn Karugonjo, the Dean Faculty of Law at Uganda Christian University, says that it is absurd that people are being held beyond the 48 hours, tortured and not granted justice.

Other rights violation cases included denial of child maintenance at 132, deprivation of property at 56, deprivation of life at 35, denial of basic education at 20, and denial of remuneration at 12 among others.

For some of the cases, the commission successfully mediated 108 cases, while the commission tribunal disposed off 94 complaints.

Out of the 94 complaints, the tribunal awarded compensation to 66 cases at 1 billion shillings.

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