The European Union and the United States are raising alarm over torture allegedly perpetrated by Uganda’s security forces, with a prominent writer and government critic saying that he is a recent victim.
The EU Delegation to Uganda in a statement Monday
expressed concern over “a situation that for more than a year has seen a
significant increase of reports of torture, arbitrary arrests, enforced
disappearances, harassment as well as attacks against human rights defenders,
members of the opposition and environmental rights activists.”
That statement followed a strong declaration Friday
from the U.S. that cited “recurring credible accounts” of forced disappearances
and torture by the security forces which “reflect poorly” on the government of
President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power since 1986.
Fresh criticism of Museveni’s human rights record
comes amid torture allegations by local writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija (pictured above), who
charges that he was tortured for weeks while in detention before a magistrate
ordered him freed late last month.
Rukirabashaija has posted photos that show many
scars on his back, drawing anger from activists, opposition politicians and
others who demand accountability. He lost his bid to retrieve his passport from
the courts when a magistrate ruled on Monday that he had not proved an urgent
need to travel.
But the writer insists he needs to get better care
abroad.
“They started using a pair of pliers and plucked
flesh from my thighs and everywhere,” he said in an account to the local Daily
Monitor newspaper. “That day I thought I was dying and thought of denouncing my
Ugandan citizenship.”
He said he was forced to stand before a camera and
apologize to members of the first family.Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, displaying scars on his arm and charging that he was tortured for weeks while in detention, appears before a court in a failed bid to have his passport returned so he could seek medical treatment abroad, at a court in Kampala, Uganda on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. The European Union and the United States are raising alarm over torture allegedly perpetrated by Uganda's security forces, with the prominent writer and government critic saying that he is a recent victim
Rukirabashaija’s attorney believes his client was
in the custody of the Special Forces Command, an army unit that protects the
first family. The Special Forces Command has not commented on allegations its
members held the writer. Nor has it responded to the torture allegations.
Rukirabashaija is charged with offensive
communication allegedly targeting Museveni and his son, Lt. Gen. Muhoozi
Kainerugaba, who commands Uganda’s infantry forces.
In a series of tweets late last year,
Rukirabashaija described Museveni as an election thief and Kainerugaba as an
overweight and “intellectually bankrupt” soldier who hopes to succeed his
father as president.
Rukirabashaija, who writes satirical fiction, has
been detained twice before over his work highlighting Museveni’s failures. He
was last year awarded the PEN Pinter Prize for an international writer of
courage.
His case has renewed focus on the alleged excesses
of the security forces in enforcing Museveni’s authority.
Opposition politician Bobi Wine, a popular singer
who challenged Museveni in last year’s elections, has seized on
Rukirabashaija’s troubles to urge the international community to hold
Museveni’s government accountable.
“The world cannot and must not watch on any
longer,” he said.
Museveni, once praised as part of a new generation
of African leaders and a longtime U.S. security ally, still has support among
many Ugandans for bringing relative stability to the country. He once
criticized African leaders who refused to step aside but has since overseen the
removal of term limits and an age limit on the presidency in Uganda.
Uganda’s elections are often marred by allegations
of fraud and abuses by security forces.
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