The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Julius Asiimwe Rubarema, a concerned citizen has sued three prison wardens for allegedly torturing Jeremiah Tendo while on remand in Kayunga prisons. He only identifies the prison warders as Oga, Dola and Enyaru.
The prison wardens are jointly sued together with the Attorney General in the suit at Civil Division of High Court. Rubarema contends that around February 2018 while on duty the three prison wardens led inmates to dig on a private farm in Kayunga district, whose owner the torture victim doesn’t remember.
This is according to the information Rubarema received from Tendo when he visited him in Luzira prisons in October 24th, 2019. Rubarema says that Tendo explained that while digging on the farm, he went ahead of other inmates, which prompted Dola and Enyaru to start assaulting him.
They reportedly ordered him to go back and plough his portion, which he had reportedly completed. His attempts to explain to the wardens that he had completed his assignment earned him merciless beatings, which shuttered his leg and foot.
Rubarema says the suspect who was in great pain was taken back to the cells where he was given pain killers. However, his situation worsened and couldn’t be managed by the medical facility at Ntenjeru. He was transferred to Luzira Murchison bay where he is still on remand.
Through his lawyer, Godfrey Akakimpa, Rubarema contends that Tendo’s left leg and foot that were shuttered by the respondents are rotting and need immediate treatment or possibly amputation. He supports the application with Tendo’s pictures, which show grave wounds on the leg, his affidavit and that of Ramadhan Kato.
“The victim intimated to me that while in cells the said prison wardens brought fire and burnt him” reads the document. Adding that, “The wardens continued beating him until he started bleeding heavily on the head, thighs and nails.”
According to the court documents, the inmate arraigned before Bale Magistrates court in Kayunga District on charges of attacking his colleague, which he denied. Rubarema, who has sued in his capacity to enforce Tendo’s human rights, now wants court to declare that the actions of the respondents of subjecting the inmate to slavery amounts to aggravated torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
He also wants court to acquit Tendo, order his immediate release from Luzira prisons and award him Shillings 16 billion on grounds that he was tortured. The Uganda Prisons Spokesperson, Frank Baine declined to comment on the matter, saying it is before court.
In November, 2019, the Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation gazetted the Human Rights Enforcement Act which among others holds the violators of human rights liable for Prosecution in their individual capacity. The same law also allows any person to sue the human violators if at all they see that someone’s rights being violated.
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