The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has awarded Shs140m in total to different victims of human rights violations that arose in the Lango Sub-region.
During its second sitting at the recently created Lira Regional Office that kicked off on Monday in Lira City, the Tribunal awarded Shs65m to an elderly mother Ms Alango Katorin,83, who lost her son Adyebo Francis during interrogation by CID officers from Lira Police Station, Shs60m to Ms. Cissy Akello who lost her husband due to torture from prison officers and Shs15m to Alake Michael who was tortured in a joint operation of the UPDF and Police to recover guns illegally possessed.
The tribunal chaired by the Chairperson Hon. Mariam Wangadya and three members of the Commission; Hon. Crispin Kaheru, Hon. Col. Steven Basaliza and Hon. Lamex Omara Apitta issued separate warnings and reminders to the UPDF and police against violation of human rights and their respective duties under the Constitution towards the protection of human rights.
In the first decision which was read by Hon. Apitta on behalf of the tribunal, the Commission discovered that late Adyebo was picked from Erute Prison by the then Lira District Police commander Otim Rymond on October 26th 2007 where he had been remanded on charges of theft. Otim wanted him for further investigation on allegations of murder. His body was discovered on the same day at Lira Hospital Mortuary with bullet wounds in the forehead and chest.
“Adyebo was a young man aged 29 years according to the complainant, his mother. He was still a single man and had no children. He never got to know the joy of being a husband and a father. He had many decades of life ahead of him before his life was brutally snatched from him by the respondent’s agents.
The right to life is the most important right without which all other rights and freedoms cannot be enjoyed. Death is final and irreversible. Alago was permanently separated from her son and breadwinner,” Hon. Apitta stated.
The Commission further found that police officer Otim’s actions were criminal, deliberate, arbitrary, sadistic and cruel and thus recommended that the Director CID investigate a case of death in police custody of Adyebo with the view of charging Otim with murder.
In the second decision delivered by Hon. Col. Basaliza on behalf of the panel, the Commission discovered that Mr. Patrick Olum who was arrested on 7th June 2008 for breaching fishing regulations was beaten to death by Prison officers at Amolatar Government Prison. The commission noted that Olum might have breached fishing regulations by using the wrong size of the net but this was not a “crime” worth denying him bail and remanding him leading to his death.
He was a man in pursuit of lawful earnings to support his family and turned to the natural resources nearest to him; Lake Kwania, and he died for this. “In a way, this was a class death. Only men in his social class die this way.”
“Olum’s last hours on earth were utter horror. Like the rest of those prisoners, he was bullied and humiliated. He had worked for at least four uninterrupted hours. He had to seek permission from his tormentors to fix his hoe and resume digging.
He was tightly tied up with a rope and tied to a tree and rendered completely defenceless. He was then brutally and mercilessly kicked by a Warder until he breathed his last. Olum was dehumanized and objectified. The moment he entered Amolatar Government Prison, he ceased to be a human being to the officers. He became simply a slave and a tool with which to get money for the prison officials. When this “tool” got slower, it was instantly disposed of,” the Commission noted.
“Olum was degraded by prison officials both in life and death. His body was put in a wheelbarrow like goods or garbage and taken to the health centre. Although prisoners are worked to near death to generate money for those in charge, the O/C Amolatar Government Prison Odong Moses did not deem it necessary to get Olum’s body treated to delay its decomposition.”
In the third decision delivered by Hon. Kaheru, the Commission noted that on the night of September 21st, 2009 Michael Olake and Morris Abak were arrested during a joint operation by Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and the Uganda Police to recover guns in the hands of unauthorized people.
They were briefly detained at Agwata Police Post where they were beaten from. Though Abak was unable to prove his claims, Olake was able to prove his claims against soldiers from the Special Investigations Branch (SIB) 4th Infantry Division.
“Their actions constituted Torture, Cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. In assessing the quantum of damages to be awarded to Olake, we will consider the extreme physical and mental pain he was subjected to. He was severely beaten with sticks all over his body. He was hit with a gun butt on the head and suffered a wound. The head is one of the most delicate parts of the body. Severe damage to the head can be fatal. It was mentally exhausting to be required to produce a gun he did not possess,” the Commission noted.
“We want to remind the UPDF of their obligation to respect human rights and freedoms in the performance of their duties. Article 221 of the Constitution refers. Under no circumstances whatsoever can torture be acceptable.”
The Uganda Human Rights Commission has a mandate under articles 52 and 53 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda to receive complaints of human rights violations, investigate, determine them and award damages or offer other remedies where it is satisfied that a violation indeed occurred.
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