The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Twenty-eight officers from different units in the Uganda People’s Defense Air Forces-UPDAF graduated after completing two weeks of training on air operations laws at the Jinja city-based Legal Training Center-LTC.
The officers were also retooled in international humanitarian law and gender sensitivity. The trainees comprised technicians, pilots, and legal officers. Lt. Col. Susan Mwangi, the commandant of LTC, said the course is aimed at enabling the air force unit commanders to appreciate the relevance of legal officers in the safe execution of military operations since they are mandated with advising them to strike the balance between human rights and their respective mission goals.
Mwangi argues that a section of commanders prefers direct aggression against enemy targets, but with advice from legal officers, operational mistakes are easily minimized, which largely contributes to the success of the mission without human rights abuse.
Mwangi challenged legal officers to authoritatively advise their commanders on effective ways of enforcing the internationally recognized military operational protocols, rather than playing the liability of lawyers’ role of quoting laws without ensuring their enforcement.
Col. Michael Wambi, the Director of Training said the legal courses improve the smooth operability of forces and human rights observance throughout the execution of different missions in their respective areas of deployment. He says that such courses empower commanders to fight fruitful wars by limiting the destruction and suffering of innocent ones.
Wambi further expressed hope that due to the current technological advancements, military forces all over the world are devising means that restrict attacks on enemy targets rather than massive destructions to weed out either one individual or a small group of people.
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