Police arresting people for no good reason some are arrested from bathrooms, inside their houses, bedrooms at the trading centres and at leisure centres. On assumptions of that they are idle & disorderly.
It was
during the reign of Idi Amin.
I still remember a young man who had been
arrested and put on’ panda gari.’ When I interviewed him, he told me he had
been on his way to Mulago hospital taking food to his mother. His mother had
given birth and his duty was to take food from home to her hospital bed. The
young man’s family were not aware of what had happened to him. Idi Amin had not
tortured those on Panda gari with Kandoya or beating them. Those in hundreds we
saw were not physically abused. The number of these many arrested people was in
hundreds. We did not witness Army abusing them in our presence.or before our
presence. apart from Panda gari.They alll sat on the floor of the Stadium as we sat interviewing them, one by one. It could take a whole afternoon..
They had not eaten or had a birth for days. They had a pageant smell. They were of all ages.and sizes. Majority of them were seemingly innocent As State Attorneys we had recommended their release. Important to know that they had not been beaten by the arresting officials. This was the good work of Francis Ayume and at the time minister of justice, who worked with the Military to establish the rule of law.
Story by
Christine
Kaluma,
There
is a stack difference between how previous regimes handled
suspects,ironically Amin and Obote respected the decisions of the courts
of law. In contrast the Museveni regime has utter disdain for the
independence of the judiciary because every verdict the must confirm to
"order from above".
Many
political suspects are languishing in maximum detention with their
fates undetermined because the judges have fret of using their authority
to dismiss state trumped charges against them.
The law is being used as a means to suppress dissenters and oppress the voice of reason instead of extending justice..
