Doctors demand unrestricted access to torture victims in custody

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Medical Association-UMA have asked the government to grant them unrestricted and timely access to torture victims in detention facilities to save their lives.

The Association officials were responding to recent incidents of torture involving physical bodily harm of sarcastic Pen Award Author, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija and Samuel Masereka, the National Unity Platform-NUP party coordinator in Kasese.

Addressing journalists at Mulago National Referral Hospital on Saturday, Dr. Samuel Odong Oledo, the UMA President disclosed that several torture victims have lost their lives due to delayed referrals and sometimes denial of specialized medical care by security personnel.

He highlighted other prominent examples of torture in the recent past involving Members of Parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya and Allan Ssewanyana, including other victims of pre and post-election violence in January 2021.

According to Dr. Oledo, sometimes security personnel intimidate doctors in line of duty not to dispense care to torture victims, a practice that undermines their ethical obligations under the Hippocratic Oath where they committed to saving lives.

The medical practitioners emphasized that torture of suspects and convicts does not only lead to physical trauma but also affects mental health leading to anxiety, depression, and sometimes psychotic problems.

They rallied other doctors to denounce, document, and report cases of torture to relevant authorities for action in the event that survivors show up at different health facilities to seek medical care.

Last week, opposition legislators from the National Unity Platform-NUP, Forum for Democratic Change-FDC, Uganda People’s Congress-UPC, Democratic Party-DP, and Justice Forum-JEEMA walked out of plenary to protest the torture of citizens by security operatives, detention without trial, and missing supporters.

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga, who led the walkout accused state actors of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and detention as well as the disappearance of citizens in all parts of the country.

Torture in custody remains a problem in Uganda’s democratic governance system despite the country enacting anti-torture legislation. The Government has repeatedly denied any involvement in torture. Between 2012 and 2016, the Uganda Human Rights Commission-UHRC received over 1,000 cases of torture from suspects while in police custody.

Throughout the COVID-19 lockdown spanning 2020 and 2021, the Commission received 238 torture complaints involving (203 males and 35 females). Of this, 150 cases were recorded against the police, 83 against the Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF and three against prison authorities.

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