When Museveni’s Neo-liberal dictatorship defies the temples of Justice: Kakwenza's wife sues SFC commander, IGP

 

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When American Backed Neo-liberal dictatorships Crush Satirical novelists: Ugandan satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who was arrested on December 28, 2021 badly tortured by Museveni’s Dictatorial regime

https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2022/01/when-american-backed-neo-liberal.html 

Kakwenza's wife sues SFC commander, IGP

https://observer.ug/news/headlines/72392-kakwenza-s-wife-sues-sfc-commander-igp 

January 6, 2022

 

Written by URN

 

Eva Basiima, the wife of novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has sued the elite Special Forces Command (SFC) boss Brig, Gen Peter Candia over the continued detention of her husband without trial.

In an application filed before the civil division of the High court, Basiima sued Candia alongside Grace Akullo the director of Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), Martins Okoth Ochola, the Inspector General of Police, and the Attorney General. 

Basiima contends that her husband was arrested from their other home in Kisaasi, Nakawa Division in Kampala by armed officers last week, and he has since remained inaccessible. Basima says that she got an opportunity to see Kakwenza on Monday when plain-clothed men and armed SFC soldiers drove him to their upcountry home in Iganga district, eastern Uganda to conduct a house search for three hours.      

Basiima adds that when Kakwenza was brought for the search, he was still wearing the same clothes he was wearing at the time of arrest, looked tortured, frail, and was limping with a blood-stained vest and underwear. Basiima says her husband was only allowed to take his first shower and brush his teeth after eight days with an officer inside the bathroom.

CID spokesperson Charles Twiine says Kakwenza was arrested over allegations of insulting the first son Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba when he called him 'obese' on Twitter.

Basiima now through her lawyers of Nalukoola, Kakeeto Advocates and Solicitors, and Kiiza and Mugisha Advocates wants the High court to order the respondents to bring Kakwenza dead or alive and explain why he should not be released from custody.

On Tuesday, Makindye Chief Magistrate's court grade one magistrate Irene Nambatya issued an order directing the government to unconditionally release Kakwenza. This was on grounds that Kakwenza had been in detention for more than the mandatory 48 hours without being arraigned in court which violates his constitutional right to liberty and fair hearing.

The state has however continued to defy that court order. In 2020, Kakwenza was arrested twice in a space of six months. He was first arrested on April 13 from his country home in Iganga allegedly by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and detained in Mbuya.  He was later charged with doing an act likely to spread an infectious disease following a post on his Facebook page related to COVID-19.

He was later granted bail but again arrested in September of the same year with his lawyers saying it was in relation to his book titled “The Banana Republic”, in which he had written about his experience under CMI custody earlier. 

He had also previously written a book titled “The Greedy Barbarian” in which he talked about a fictitious greedy and incompetent dictator Kayibanda who clings to power for 43 years. 

In October 2021, Kakwenza was awarded as the winner of International Writer of Courage at the PEN Pinter Prize function. This annual award is normally presented to a person who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs.

Kakwenza has since sued the government seeking compensation for infringement of his rights after he was illegally detained in 2020 where he was reportedly tortured and kept incommunicado. But his case is yet to be determined by the High court.

 

Police defy court order to release Kakwenza

 https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/police-defy-court-order-to-release-kakwenza-3674730 

Friday, January 07, 2022 

 

 

By  Andrew Bagala

 

What you need to know:

Mr Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arrested on December 28 and he has since been in detention without access to his lawyers or family.

Uganda Police Force has defied an order to release novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija unconditionally despite lawyers serving them with documents on Tuesday. 
Mr Rukirabashaija was arrested last year on December 28 and he has since been in detention without access to his lawyers or family.
On January 4, Makindye Chief Magistrate Court, Grade One Magistrate Irene Nambatya ruled: “It is hereby ordered that the applicant be unconditionally released from police custody. Every police officer should comply with the above order”.

 

Mr Eron Kiiza, the lawyer of Mr Rukirabashaija, said they served the police officer with a court order, but up to date they have defied them. 
“They got the orders and are yet to respond,” Mr Kiiza said.
On Monday,  the spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, Mr Charles Twiine, said they were to present Mr Rukirabashaija in court on Tuesday on charges of offensive communication under the Computer Misuse Act against President Museveni and his son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also the Commander of Land Forces. 

Mr Twiine yesterday could not readily give a comment on why they were still detaining Mr Rukirabashaija.
Of late, the police have been accused of ignoring court orders, but last November the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka warned them to desist from such impunity.
On November 4, 2021, Mr Kiwanuka wrote to Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth-Ochola, ordering police to always comply with all the court directives to avoid litigation and awards. 

 

“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to advise you to direct your officers to comply with the said directives of the court and perform their duties and obligations as is required under the law as failure to do so many lead to contempt of court proceedings filed against the Inspector General of Police personally,” Mr Kiwanuka wrote then.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga then said they would comply with the court orders as directed by the Attorney General.
International and local human rights activists have condemned the continued detention of Mr Rukirabashaija.
United States of America Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Senator Jim Risch said the incommunicado detention of Mr Rukirabashaija is one of the troubling examples of continued stifling of dissent and punishment of critics.
 
“#Uganda authorities continue to stifle dissent & punish critics. The house arrest of opposition leader @HEBobiwine last month & incommunicado detention of @KakwenzaRukira - despite a court order to produce him in court - are new & troubling examples,” Senator Risch said. 

 

State must not regress on rule of law

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/editorial/state-must-not-regress-on-rule-of-law-3673730 

Thursday, January 06, 2022 

 

 

By  EDITOR

What you need to know:

• The issue: Rule of law
• Our view: For as long as we still have courts of law sitting and dispensing justice, there must be hope. Security operatives must comply with the courts before they regress beyond redemption.

 Acclaimed novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was by press time since held incommunicado by security operatives. Arrested last week in what Police said was for offensive communication under the Computer Misuse Act. The charges are related to his social media engagements targeting the President and members of his family, Rukirabashaija has only been seen and heard from once – on Monday when he was driven to his Iganga home for a search.

 

The manner of detention without trial was already grave enough, especially after it emerged that the novelist turned up weak, in bloodied clothing and complained of torture, during the search of his home on Monday, according to his lawyer. But what aggravates the situation and is of graver concern is the fact that Rukirabashaija has remained out of touch even after court ordered for his immediate and unconditional release.

The abhorrent nature of repression and impunity with which the State security acts in total disregard of the same law and Constitution they vow protect is repulsive. This is a government that was defined by the democratic ideals it preached from the 1980s until the late 1990s. Indeed, the government made efforts, to live bywhat it preached.

 

However, the creed has been regressing into worse and worse caricature with each passing year. Ugandans have seen security operatives kidnap suspects freed by courts right in front of the Temple of Justice many times that what is happening to Rukirabashaija, who was never arraigned before the Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court that ordered his release, is hardly shocking.

But then therein lies the danger. The laws of nature dictate that it is scarier for the Kite when the Mother Hen does not fight back when its Chicks are snatched. This is just one of the malaise in a deepening democratic crisis.

It is one thing to be wary of Dr Kizza Besigye and Mr Robert Kyagulanyi. The two are Opposition figures who command a lot of audience beyond the borders and the seas. But for a writer who can hardly command the attention of 10 random folks in downtown market, the manner with which the State has acted shows they are increasingly scared of everything and anything, the pen inclusive.

 

But it is never too late to make things right. The State must not act like it is beyond redemption. The rule of law that the government continues to preach can never be entirely a lost cause. For as long as we still have courts of law sitting and dispensing justice, there must be hope.

Security operatives must comply with the courts before they regress beyond redemption.