Date: 23rd April, 2012
Contact: Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform
(UGMP)
+256 414 510 272
Civil
Society Leaders Denounce the Continued Police Brutality, Lack of
Accountability, professionalism and Impunity in the Security Forces.
“The
fact that a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court has been committed by a
person pursuant to an order of a Government or of a superior, whether military
or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless:
(a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the Government or
the superior in question; (b) The person did not know that the order was
unlawful; and(c) The order was not manifestly unlawful. 2. For the purposes of this article, orders
to commit genocide or crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.” – Article 33 of the 1998
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
We the leaders of civil society in Uganda strongly condemn the increasing use of barbaric and uncivil methods by security agencies while claiming to manage public order. The most recent of these incidents was the brutal and insensitive fondling of FDC women league chairperson, Ingrid Turinawe’s breasts on Friday 20th April 2012. This particular incident is one of many attempts by the police to publically harm and humiliate the same citizens who they have a constitutional mandate to protect and safeguard. We note that this incident occurs in the context of an increasingly militarized police force whose viciousness has been questioned by the public but condoned by the state. Such incidents inevitably depict a rapidly deteriorating governance order. This shameless display of state brutality and use of sexual assault and molestation was perceivably meant to intimidate and threaten Ugandans of good will who might attempt to blow the whistle on the excesses of the state. Such brutal acts by a public security agency denote a state thoughtless of dignity and sanctity of human life
.
We at this point have reason to believe that state agencies are being instructed to use violence against women and other law abiding citizens. Violence specifically against women by the state is a weapon of warfare that has been outlawed by different legal Instruments. According to the ICC Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "Crimes against humanity are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings. They are not isolated or sporadic events, but are part either of a government policy (although the perpetrators need not identify themselves with this policy) or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government or a de facto authority...... they reach the threshold of crimes against humanity when they are part of a widespread or systematic practice”.
As Ugandan Leaders who aspire to the higher values of social justice and human dignity, we address ourselves to the institutions and their respective heads who have a responsibility to protect the lives and dignity of citizens:
- The President of Uganda and Commander in Chief of the armed forces , General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
- Minister of Internal affairs Hon. Hilary Onek
- Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima
- Inspector General of Police, Lt. General Kale Kayihura
- Minister of Security, Hon. Muruli Mukasa
- All Intelligence Organizations and agencies
- The Judiciary
- The Speaker of Parliament
- Members of Parliament
- All other institutions with the responsibility to protect and promote peace, human rights and rule of law
- All Police officers, who have individual responsibility to protect law and order
We therefore would like
to state our demands as follows:
- The offending police officer(s) be immediately sacked and tried for violating Ms. Ingrid Turinawe’s rights;
- The Uganda Police Force immediately offers a public apology for this humiliating and shameful display of sexual assault and molestation of a woman before the Nation;
- The Police must exercise greater restraint in dealing with citizens involved in the lawful protests, show professionalism, promote and protect the freedoms provided for in the constitution without fear or favor;
- The Parliament must challenge the acts of brutality shown, and use this incident to speed up the enactment of the Anti-Torture Bill, review the public order management Bill and the Domestic Relations Bill which are related to the prevention of Gender Based Violence and abuse of Human Rights;
- All Ugandans should view this incident as an attack on the country and not just an individual. Citizens must take the necessary lawful measures to prevent Uganda from slipping back into the dark ages of the 70s and 80s; and
- The individual perpetrators of these crimes must recall that they have lawful rights to disobey unlawful orders.
For God and My Country
