FIRST READ:
When the Uganda People’s Defence force (UPDF) terrorized Kapeeka residents rendering them completely defenseless: When the people’s army does not give a damn about the poor people.
U.S. army tips UPDF on human rights: oh really; isn’t the US training mercenaries for its new world order system
True Colors of Armies of US slave states : UPDF shies away from raped woman
Human Rights
Violations in UPDF Operations in Karamoja
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/09/10/get-gun-0
UPDF in Kony hunt accused of rape, looting in Congo
Besigye man held 10 years without trial
Wednesday, 17 April 2013 00:49
Justice eludes
army captain
The 2003 arrest of retired Captain Amon Byarugaba by the army , and his incarceration for 10 years to date in Makindye military barracks without trial – has reignited debate about the increasing cases of extrajudicial detentions in the country. Before their father’s arrest, Fred Kakooza and his siblings had become accustomed to incessant knocks on their door by security operatives in the dark of the night. These were knocks of security officers who wanted to arrest their father.
“It was traumatising. We could all wake up and be
scared,” Kakooza says.
Byarugaba, 67, joined the Museveni-led NRA rebels
in 1982 and later on served in the 23rd battalion. In 1994, he retired from the
army citing old age [he was 48]. In the chaotic 2001 presidential election,
Byarugaba supported Reform Agenda’s Dr Kizza Besigye at the peak of intolerance
towards dissenting views amongst security officers. For the support he had
given Besigye, Byarugaba had to pay a high price, reveals his son Kakooza.
Byarugaba was later accused of being part of a
covert rebel uprising, the People’s Redemption Army (PRA). The government has
claimed that PRA was operating in the deeper recesses of the Democratic
Republic of Congo, but it has never carried out any known serious attack on Uganda.
In February 2003, something unusual happened.
Byarugaba did not return home. However, on March 20 in the same year, reports
filtered through that he had been paraded in Arua district, in West Nile, where he had been transferred alongside 21
other suspects after reportedly being captured in the Ituri jungles in the DR
Congo. The Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) claimed that Byarugaba,
while in various places in Uganda,
Rwanda and DRC had contrived
to overthrow the government of Uganda.
Security also alleged that on February 24, 2003 while in Ituri, DRC, Byarugaba
and his colleagues solicited and received from Thomas Lubanga, a Lendu militia
warlord, arms and ammunition.
Among the arsenal they were purportedly handed,
were AK 47 sub-machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, rocket-
propelled grenade bombs, anti-personnel mines, anti- tank mines, 12.7mm gun, 24
pieces of 82mm mortar bombs and other military hardware. The state claimed that
the suspects planned to use the arms to overthrow the government and had been
recruited allegedly by Joshua Babu and taken to Kigali, Rwanda
in July 2001 where they were kept in heavily-guarded safe houses.
Fabrication
They also allegedly confessed that renegade UPDF
officers Col Samson Mande and Lt Col Anthony Kyakabale visited them in the safe
houses and promised them money ranging from $300 to $3,000. But Byarugaba has
since told the family that the story of his arrest was a
carefully-choreographed fabrication by security agencies. His version is a
stark contrast.
Byarugaba claims he was kidnapped in Kampala, blind-folded and
driven to Arua. Today Byarugaba lies helpless in the dark dungeons of Makindye
military barracks. His sight is blurred and he has developed high blood
pressure and peptic ulcers.
His last born Josephine Birungi was barely seven
years old prior to his father’s arrest. Today she is 17 and whenever she is on
holiday from a boarding secondary school in Iganga district, she uses the opportunity
to visit her father on Sundays, when the family is allowed to see him.
Among 22 of his colleagues, he is the only one
still being held. Though the others applied for bail, Byarugaba says he would
rather die in jail as long as his conscience is clear. Some of those who were
granted amnesty include; Dagam Okiror, Richard Obal, Cosmas Komakech, Didas
Atunga Bantu, Sgt Muchumba, Zephania Tembo and Lt Stephen Asiimwe alias Butross
Sultan Cobra.
On a number of times, his family has attempted to
get him bail but the court martial continues to frustrate them. Kakooza recalls
that in August 2011, the family asked the court martial chairman, then Brig
Charles Angina to grant the elderly Byarugaba bail.
“We sat for the whole day, he [Angina] said give
us like 30 minutes to consult and we are going to try him very fast. But by
evening his bail application had not been heard and we left court. He was taken
back to his cell,” Kakooza says. Their next stop was the High court where they
had wanted the trial moved because Byarugaba had retired from the army.
“The army sent a letter to the High Court saying
they are ready to try him in the court-martial. But his lawyer said they [army]
were diversionary and only wanted his bail application in the Crimes division
to stall. We don’t know what to do,” Kakooza said.
Byarugaba was returned to his cell and reportedly
ordered to seek for amnesty if he wanted to regain his freedom. He declined
since he believed he had committed nothing wrong. On March 19, 2013, he was
supposed to appear in the court martial but he did not turn up.
Efforts to get an explanation from the UPDF were
futile. Last week, the army’s chief political commissar and acting
spokesperson, Col Felix Kulayigye, said he was not conversant with the case and
he would have to consult before committing himself. But by press time last
evening, we could not reach him on phone.
Byarugaba, who hails from Nyarushanje, Rubabo
county in Rukungiri, left behind a family of 12. Some are now married. Though
he has been away for a decade, the family still has fond memories of him. They
long for the day they he will return home.
Two Ugandan Doctors Captured In
Ituri
Publish Date: Mar 19, 2003
Newvision Archive
MEDICAL doctors Wilbroad Okungu and Julius Muhumuza were among the 22 People’s Redemption Army (PRA) rebels paraded before the press yesterday in Arua.
Dr. Okungu, who comes from Tororo, worked with Gulu Hospital, while Muhumuza from Bushenyi worked with Mildmay on Entebbe road.
Dr. Okungu, who qualified as a medial doctor in 1997 from Makerere University, said he was kidnapped from Nairobi where he had travelled to do an English test before proceeding for a Master’s degree at Boston University. He said the test was the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFEL).
Other captives included retired UPDF soldiers and deserters. They are Lt. Stephen Asiimwe from Kyenjojo, Lt. J.E Okalebo from Kumi, Richard Obal from Gulu, Sgt. Kirope Muliwabyo (Kasese), and Capt. Amon Byarugaba (Rukungiri).
Others are Deus Mande (Mbarara) Sgt. Zephania Mucimba (Kasese) Gideon Mutawomoka (Kasese), Moses Damani (Arua), Sgt. Mwesige Matte (Kasese), Made Akollo (Arua), Sgt. Yassin Nuru (Arua) and WOII Didas Atunga (Rukungiri) formerly with the Chief of Personnel and Administration at Bombo.
Also among the captives are Okello Gama (Gulu), David Oboma (Gulu) Lt. Matsiko Kyarisima (Rukungiri), Cosma Komakech (Nebbi), Capt. Abel Kisembo (Bundibugyo), Molo Apollo (Arua) and Lt. James Okiring (Pallisa).
Some of them looked weary and emaciated with sunken eyes. Some wore rags. Dr. Okungu had eight bullet wounds sustained during the surprise attack.
Most of them said they supported Col. (Rtd) Dr. Kizza Besigye in the 2001 presidential elections. Others said they were promised money, while others said that they were ex-soldiers who were frustrated because they had no jobs.
They said they were recruited by Joshua Babu and taken to Kigali, Rwanda in July 2001 where they were kept in heavily-guarded safe houses. They said Col. Mande and Lt. Col. Kyakabale visited them in the safe houses and promised them money ranging from US$300 to US$3,000. Babu, according to the captives, used to be a UNLA officer and comes from Bushenyi district.
They said they stayed in Kigali for about one and a half years and were later taken to the Democratic Republic of Congo in February this year.
According to the captives, they were taken to DR Congo to train the Lendu militia force of the late Eneku, former governor of Ituri region. They said on March 10, the people they were training put them under arrest. They said the PRA rebels who resisted were shot dead.
But Lendu defence minister, Butchu Tchedya, who officially handed over the captives to the UPDF at Arua Military Barracks, said the captives were captured in a battle in Aboro Hills and were not in Kpunruma to train the Lendu, as they had alleged.
The arrest of these people confirms allegations that Rwanda has been trying to form a group to destabilise Uganda. The law is very clear. These ones who were caught in combat will be prosecuted, Lt. Col. Mawa Muhindo, Commander of the Alpine Brigade said. Muhindo is also the Sector Commander of Mahagi near where the rebels were arrested.
Muhindo said Col. Edson Muzoora escaped narrowly with two escorts during the attack.
We are exposing the naked lies of Rwanda They have been having a sinister plan to destabilise Uganda, Muhindo said.
Army spokesman Shaban Bantariza witnessed the handover.
Ends
UPDF ordered to produce 22 captives
By Halima Abdallah
The Monitor, April 13, 2003
The High
Court on Friday ordered the Army Commander and the Attorney General to produce
in court 22 alleged Peoples’ Redemption Army rebels captured in Ituru in D.R
Congo in March.
Justice J.P.M Tabaro wants the suspects produced on 17 April, for court to inquire the circumstances of their detention.
The suspects applied to court on Friday through their lawyer Mr Peter Walubiri of Kwesibo, Bamwine &Walubiri advocates.
They are Dr Wilbroad Okungu, Dr Julius Muhumuza, Lt. Stephen Asiimwe, Lt. J.E. Okalebo, Richard Obal, Sgt. Kirope Muliwabyo, Capt. Amon Byarugaba, Deus Mande, Sgt. Zephania Mucimba, Gideon Mutawomoka, and Moses Damani.
Others are Sgt. Mwesigye Matte, Made Apollo, Sgt. Yassin Nuru, WO II Didas Atunga, Okello Gama, David Oboma, Lt. Matsiko Kyarisiima, Cosmas Komakech, Capt. Abel Kisembo, Molo Apollo and Lt. James Okiring.
They are alleged to have been recruited by one Babu Joshua and taken to Kigali, Rwanda in July 2001.
They were later taken to D.R Congo in February to train the Lendu militia force of the former governor of Ituri region.
The Lendu Defence Minister Butchu Tchedya handed them over to the UPDF on 20 March at Arua military barracks. They were then paraded before the press.
Since then they have been in detention without being produced before court. Four relatives swore affidavits in support of the application.
A Makerere University
lecturer in the Institute
of Statistics and Applied
Economics Mr Joseph Tumushabe also swore affidavit in respect of the rest as a
concerned citizen.
