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Karamoja MPs vow to seek justice for ‘starved’ suspects
What you need to know:
The lawmakers say the suspected cattle rustlers who were allegedly torture and starved, deserve justice.
Members of Parliament from Karamoja Sub-region have vowed to ensure justice is delivered to locals who were arrested as suspected warriors abetting cattle rustling.
Last week, residents of Kotido District were left in shock after the group returned home in appalling conditions. Some of them are malnourished while others are struggling with tuberculosis infections.
The group had been in detention in Gulu District since last year.
The Jie County MP, Mr Peter Abrahams Lokii, who transported the juveniles and youth from Gulu prison, told the Daily Monitor yesterday that he cannot comprehend the state he found the suspects in.
“Some could not walk, they seem to have been starved and tortured,” he said.
“Justice is not for bias, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions asked for their release, because no single person from Acholi nor the UPDF testified against the suspects,” he added.
Mr Lokii said after the army failed to issue any implicating evidence against the suspects in Agago Magistrate’s Court, the 21 juveniles and 279 youth were transferred to Gulu prisons where he said they were illegally detained.
“We shall try all we can to secure justice for these people, we also appeal to human rights defenders to interest themselves in this case of torture,” he said.
Some relatives struggled to identify their children among the 244 who returned last week. The relatives of Lokomolo Lomiat, a juvenile who died on remand due to an alleged outbreak of tuberculosis, are also still demanding justice.
Lomiat died, Seven days before his colleagues were released on April 3.
At the height of last year’s cattle raids, the UPDF launched a campaign to restore sanity, during which villages and cattle markets were cordoned off and suspected warriors arrested in Lobanya Farming Zone in Kotido.
Mr Lokii said two other suspects are allegedly battling tuberculosis in Murchison Bay Hospital in Luzira where they were transferred three month ago.
“For Lokomolo Lomiat, we are trying to follow the issue of compensation through human rights agencies because he died in a case where he was not a criminal,” he said.
Mr Ismail Muhammad Lomwar, the MP for Kotido Municipality, told this newspaper that an inquest into the alleged deliberate starvation of these juveniles and youth should be instituted.
“We received children who could not walk and were malnourished, a sign that they were under torture and starvation,” he said.
Human rights
Mr Paul Parimoe, the officer-in-charge of Uganda Human Rights Commission office in Moroto District, said they will formally open a complaint as soon as medical officials hand them a report on the state of the juveniles and the youth.
He said when they dispatched a team to Kotido last week, the children reported tales of torture and starvation while in the Gulu remand home. They plan to dispatch a team to talk to the entire 300 of them.
Mr Frank Baine, the spokesperson of Uganda Prisons, said the juveniles were never detained in Gulu prisons.
“To the best of my knowledge, those juveniles were in Gulu remand homes, we only had elders in Gulu government prison. Mr Baine said tuberculosis ‘is no big deal,’ and can be treated.
He said Uganda prisons have been a partner in the last 10 years in trying to combat and contain TB.
Mr Frank Mugabi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said they dispatched a team to Gulu remand home following the ‘disturbing’ photos of the children.
He said they will share a report with the media based on their findings.
The 3rd Division Commander in Moroto, Brig Gen Joseph Balikuddembe, said the custody of the suspects is vested in the hands of Uganda prisons.
Crackdown
Mr Michael Longole, the police spokesperson for Mt Moroto region, said the arrests were done following cattle thefts in Agago District by suspected Karimojong warriors.
The chairperson for Uganda Human Rights Commission, Ms Mariam Fauzat Wangadya, said she could not tell whether it was targeted torture, or targeted starvation.
“I wouldn’t want to jump beyond myself on this matter by telling you possible remedies on the matter, until facts are established,” Ms Wangadya said.
Mr Jamson Karemani, the spokesperson for the Judiciary, said prisons can’t receive people who have not been charged in court.
“The MPs are not understanding the facts,’’ he said.
Article 24 of the Constitution provides that no person shall be subjected to any form of torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Karamoja Development Forum (KDF) has commissioned an ongoing inquiry into widespread torture claims by civilians against soldiers during the disarmament process last year.
Suspects in cells
Leaders in Karamoja accuse security forces of starving suspects
https://www.independent.co.ug/leaders-in-karamoja-accuse-security-forces-of-starving-suspects/
May 19, 2022Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The joint security forces involved in the disarmament exercise in Karamoja have come under the spotlight from some local leaders for allegedly starving the suspects they pick up during the cordon and search operations.
On Monday, the joint security forces launched the cordon and search operations across the nine districts of Karamoja, which led to the arrest of 929 suspects and the recovery of 2 illegal firearms. Some of the suspects spent between two and three days in the cells as they were being screened.
Paul Lokol, the LCV chairperson of Nabilatuk district says that the suspects were starved in the cells. “On Wednesday, I visited some of the youths who were rounded up from Nabilatuk on Monday and were taken to the army barracks. But I found the youth miserable since they had not eaten for two days,” he said.
Lokol blamed the human rights defenders for not taking an interest in how the forces are treating people. Peter Dengel, the kraal leader of the Imerimong clan in Ngoleriet sub-county in Napak district, said that the cordon and search operations will not yield the desired results apart from pushing the rustlers into hiding with their firearms.
“When you use the force in Karamoja you will never achieve what you want but apply peace and dialogue,” he said. Betty Tebakol, the wife of one of the suspects told URN that ever since her husband who is living with HIV was arrested, he has missed his medication.
“I have moved to Nakapiripirit brigade pleading with the forces to allow my husband to take drugs but they have refused to allow me to give him the drugs. I don’t know their motive yet he has never owned any gun,” she said.
Peter Lokol, one of the suspects arrested on suspicion of hiding a gun and a resident of Loregae sub-county told URN that they stayed for days without eating or drinking anything until Wednesday night when they were served food.
“We never ate any food in the cells until Wednesday when they saved us food. Five people shared one plate of posho and beans,” he said. Mudong Akorio who was arrested but later released after he was screened and found innocent also confessed that life in the cells was so difficult.
“The soldiers who were guarding us do not know that we are just being arrested on suspicion and are not yet criminals. They were so harsh against us,” he said. Last week, the joint security forces received Shillings 200million as part of the Shillings 39billion approved for the disarmament exercise in Karamoja.
But Major Isaac Oware, the UPDF 3rd Division spokesperson dismissed the claims that they are starving suspects in their cells, saying that they are given food and their rights are respected. According to Major Oware, before they started the operations, they budgeted for everyone including feeding the suspects and their treatment.
“Those are all baseless allegations meant to frustrate our work but we shall continue carrying on the operation while respecting the human rights,” he said.
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