The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament’s Human Rights Committee says former FDC leader, Dr. Kiiza Besigye expressed fears that he might be killed while in detention at Luzira maximum prison.
The Committee chaired by West Budama MP, Fox Odoi over the weekend visited Dr. Kiiza Besigye and his co-accused Haj Obed Lutale.
In a report, Fox Odoi told Parliament that Besigye complained that he was being held in solitary confinement of what he allegedly described as prison with in prison.
Besigye reportedly shared concerns about unexplained late night activities within the prison such as padlocks being closed and opened without entering his cell.
“He fears being poisoned or harmed in such environment,”he said.
There were reports that Besigye had gone on a hunger strike fearing that he could be poisoned by the jailer.
Fox Odoi said Dr Besigye told the committee that he has access to adequate food with three authorized suppliers providing his needs.
“His co-accused has three authorized suppliers providing his food” he said.
The Committee observed that the food provided by Uganda Prison Service lack variety and does not meet the minimum standards of a balanced diet as provided for the law.
The committee observed that the rate of occupancy of Luzira Maximum prison exceeds five hundred percent yet the facility was supposed to hold 600 prisoners.
Luzira currently hold over three thousand two hundred prisoners. The majority of the prisoners are on pretrial detention or not yet convicted.
Minority Report by Odur
Erute South Member of Parliament, Jonathan Odur presented a minority report dissenting on some of the issues raised by the Committee Chairperson.
The Committee that visited Besigye consisted of MPS from the ruling NRM party, the opposition and some Independent MPS.
Odur said Besigye who prison number is Uganda Remand 1867 feared that he could be poisoned while in prison.
“His biggest is that the state being the complainant in his case, the persecutor, and has the command and control of the Uganda prisons puts him in danger” he said.
He told Parliament that Besigye told the committee of an incident where deep in the night two of the four doors to his detention cell were opened.
“This scared him into shouting loudly and people openly retreated. He sought an explanation. And three different versions were told to him” said Odur.
“It was a submission of Dr. Kiiza Besigye that he being detained alone and is not allowed to interact with other prisoners including attending prayers on Sunday with the rest of the prisoners” he said.
According to Odur, the Commissioner General of Prisons, Johnson Byabashaija told MPS that Colonel Besigye was being held under solitary confinement for his safety, but also that Besigye has the capacity to excite the prisoners which might spiral out of control.
Besigye’s Christmas Message confiscated Odur further reported that the prison’s authorities confiscated Dr. Besigye message which he had intended to be communicated as part of the Christmas greetings to Ugandans. “Uganda Remand 1867 Dr. Kiiza Besigye wrote a Christmas greetings and message to Ugandans. And it was confiscated for having two words. : freedom and Justice”’ said
MPS Debate Report
Ndorwa County East MP, Wilfred Nuwagaba said the solitary confinement of a prisoner on remand is illegal. “It amounts to torture. And the prison officers must be cautioned and told in an explicit terms” said Nuwagaba who has previously served as shadow Attorney General.
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