Luzira Victims: Posted Jan 10, 2010
No one wants a criminal to live among them but when peop=
le
are prisoned for months and ages without a single charge or trial, that alo=
ne
makes you suspect and doubt the independence of the judicial system conduct=
ed
by that Government that is abusing those individual’s rights! Take for
example Uganda’s filthy rott=
en
Luzira prison which now houses inmates 5times more than it’s original maximum capacit=
y of
9,000.
Instead of calling these prisoners (inmates or criminals)
let me call them victims, these
victims range from 15 years of age and up; mostly from the North and centra=
l regions
of Uganda which have been subjected to a pattern of wanton violence and mass
destruction by Museven’s army and the ball of spies that have no limi=
ts.
According to our inside sources one informer told us that the main reason w=
hy
these two regions have been singled by the government is simple! Unemployme=
nt
and frustration are so high in these two areas which has led to (1) An
exorbitant number of high school and college dropout due to the fact that
parents can no longer afford school tuition, (2) The government believes th=
is
is enough to compel anyone to join any of the various rebel movements.
Instead of
addressing the issue and prevent the inevitable, the government has chosen =
the
hard road and enacted ridiculous
laws such as “ idle
& disorderly” this one means that if you are found
standing or sitting in one place for over 5 minutes, you can be arrested
indefinitely for simply doing=
so.
To enforce this law the president instructed his devotee the police chief,
General Kaihura to have no mercy; t=
he results
can be seen in the pictures below.
Now in a country where parents can not afford to pay for
their children’s education and employment is only for the well connec=
ted,
what do you expect people to do other than sit and think? Below are picture=
s of
victims of those injudicious laws, infected with diseases and no help or
treatment.
![3D"The](3D"LuziraVictim1_files/image002.gif")
in
jail 19 months and no charge
![3D"uganda](3D"LuziraVictim1_files/image004.jpg")
=
&nb=
sp;
Inside
Luzira prison will obscured
Conditions inside Ugandan prisons is appalling; the small
jerry cans that the prisoners use to wash in the toilet are the same jerry =
cans
they use for their drinking water. Prisoners sleep on the hard cemented flo=
or
without a single bed-sheet to disguise the conditions of the hard cold floo=
r or
to use as covers, then they wake up very early in the morning to dry up the
paddles of water that always accumulate overnight.
Prisoners use empty tins as toilets and this leaves a terrible smell in the
prison rooms during the night and the place is infested with cockroaches wh=
ich
swam over the food dishes and crawl all over the prisoners in their sleep at
night.
Minors of fifteen to sixteen years old also imprisoned with a bunch of grown
men.
![3D"uganda](3D"LuziraVictim1_files/image006.gif")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-1.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-2.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-3.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-4.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-5.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-6.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-7.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-8.png")
![3D"uganda](3D"http://freeuganda.wordpress.com/files/2009/06/screenshot-9.png")
![3Dprisoners](3D"LuziraVictim1_files/image025.jpg")
June 24, 2009
Letter to the Ugandan Minister of Justice on Long-Term
Detainees
Your Excellency,
Human Rights Watch is writing to draw your attention to =
the
prolonged incarceration of 17 individuals whose cases as a matter of law de=
mand
your urgent action. In each case, the individual has been imprisoned for mo=
nths
or years awaiting “Minister’s orders” to be sentenced,
released, or placed in the appropriate custodial care. Most were convicted =
for
crimes without due process, or were found not guilty at all. We are deeply
concerned that the Justice Ministry’s failure to appropriately act on
these cases is depriving them of their rights under the Uganda constitution=
and
international human rights law.
The 17 imprisoned individuals fall into two groups: 12 w=
ere
sentenced to death without an attorney, and five were deemed by the courts =
to
be not guilty due to luck of adequate evidence. Several have languished in
prison for more than five years as they have awaited a determination of the=
ir
status by your office. We have enclosed the details of each case.
As you know, Uganda’s Trial on Indictments Act,
article 105, requires the Minister of Justice to determine the sentence in
cases involving individuals convicted of death-sentence-eligible crimes
committed when they were minors. Human Rights Watch is aware of 12 individu=
als
at Luzira prison who are in this situation. They have been awaiting an order
from the Minister of Justice regarding their sentence for varying lengths of
time – from 18 months to eight years.
One prisoner, HBI[1], has not been informed of his sente=
nce
since being convicted of a 1996 robbery 12 years ago, on June 16, 1997, whe=
n he
was 16 years old. On December 12, 2001, the Fort Portal High Court informed=
him
to await Minister’s orders for a sentence determination. He has await=
ed a
determination of his sentence by the Minister of Justice ever since. He is =
now
29 years old. Another four individuals, who were 16 and 17 years old when t=
hey
committed their crimes, are still without a sentence despite convictions in
1999.
The long-term detention without sentencing of children
violates Uganda’s commitments under the Convention on the Rights of t=
he
Child, to which Uganda is a party. Under article 37(b) of the Convention, t=
he
imprisonment of children – defined as those under 18 at the time of t=
he
offense – should be a last resort and for the minimum period possible=
. A
central goal of the criminal justice system in relation to children in conf=
lict
with the law should be to provide them with rehabilitation.
Human Rights Watch is aware of five additional individua=
ls
who are considered by prison and court officials to be insane but who remai=
n on
remand. Uganda’s Trial on Indictments Act, article 48, requires that =
the
Minister of Justice order someone who has been found not guilty by reason of
insanity during trial to be held in a prison, mental hospital, or other
suitable place of safe custody. The individual is on remand until such a
determination is made. Once the Minister of Justice has issued this order, =
the
superintendent of the custodial facility where the individual is detained m=
ust,
according to the law, issue regular reports to the minister regarding the
individual’s condition, history, and circumstances. When considering =
the
report, the Minister of Justice may order the prisoner to be discharged.
Unfortunately, without the Minister’s orders, this
reporting does not occur, and the individuals are detained on remand
indefinitely. Given the particular psychological needs of these individuals,
their cases should be handled with the utmost sensitivity. Those so detained
are being held contrary to international principles dealing with mental
illness. According to the United Nations Principles for the Protection of
Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care,
every patient has the right to receive health and social care appropriate to
his or her health needs, and is entitled to care and treatment in accordance
with the same standards as other ill persons. Every patient also has the ri=
ght
to be treated in the least restrictive environment and with the least
restrictive or intrusive treatment appropriate to the patient’s health
needs and the need to protect the physical safety of others.
One individual, AB from Mbarara, was arrested in 1997 on
defilement charges and has been awaiting Minister’s orders for nearly
nine years, since November 15, 2000. Despite his conviction, Mr. B is legal=
ly
entitled to an impartial and expeditious resolution of his case and to
appropriate psychological assistance.
The prolonged delay in notifying all 17 of these individ=
uals
of their legal status is a serious violation of their rights under both Uga=
ndan
and international law. Under the Ugandan constitution, article 28(1), all
Ugandans have the right to a fair, speedy and public hearing before an
independent and impartial court or tribunal established by law. This includ=
es
the right to be informed of their sentence in a timely fashion.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which Uganda ratified in 1995, sets out the rights of those accuse=
d of
crimes before the law. Under articles 9(3) and 14(3)(c) of the ICCPR, all
defendants have the right to a conclusion of the proceedings against them
without undue delay. These 17 cases all involve periods of time well beyond
what has been deemed by the Human Rights Committee, the expert body that
monitors states’ compliance with the ICCPR, to be a reasonable delay.=
The
Human Rights Committee in McLawrence v. Jamaica held that a delay of 31 mon=
ths between
trial and dismissal of an appeal was not reasonable in a capital case. (UN =
Doc.
CCPR/C/60/D/702/1996, 29 September 1997, para. 5.6).
Below are the relevant details of the 17 cases. We ask t=
hat
you look into these cases and promptly issue the appropriate orders as requ=
ired
by law so that the defendants can be informed of their legal status as soon=
as
possible. Strong consideration should be given to international standards t=
hat
discourage the imprisonment of child offenders and that provide individuals
with mental health problems the necessary medical and psychological care.
According to information received by Human Rights Watch,=
the
Ministry of Justice has been informed by officials of the Uganda Prison Ser=
vice
of these cases, but there has been no action taken to issue the needed orde=
rs.
We urge you to take up these cases immediately and ensure that they are han=
dled
as required by law. Doing so will be an important step in respecting the ba=
sic
rights of the individuals concerned and demonstrating Uganda’s commit=
ment
to international human rights standards.
We look forward to further dialogue with you and others =
in
the Ministry of Justice and thank you for your attention to this important
matter.
Sincerely
Mulyanti James