VZCZCXRO7009
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1218/01 2951139
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221139Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1879
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001218 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI UG
SUBJECT: UGANDAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ISSUES 2008 REPORT 
 
REF:  KAMPALA 00462 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Ugandan Human Rights Commission's 
(UHRC)recently released 11th annual report highlighted human rights 
violations perpetrated by individual, poorly trained police officers 
and members of the military operating at the local level.  The UHRC 
called on the Ugandan government to ban torture and renounce the use 
of so-called "safe houses."  While the quasi-independent UHRC's 
investigations generally steered clear of Uganda's primary human 
rights offenders - namely the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence 
(CMI), the Police's Rapid Response Unit (RRU), and the Joint 
Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) - the report nevertheless represents 
a good faith effort by the Ugandan government to police itself, 
compensate victims of human rights violations, and hopefully deter 
potential future offenders.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
The Report and its Findings 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The UHRC released its 11th annual report to Parliament on 
October 12.  The UHRC is constitutionally mandated to investigate 
and report on human rights complaints, and provide monetary 
compensation to victims of human rights violations.  The UHRC 
consists of a Chairperson and six members nominated by President 
Museveni, and has offices and staff throughout the country.   A gap 
from November 2008 to May 2009, spanning the expiration of the 
previous Commission's tenure and the nomination of new 
commissioners, significantly delayed the 2008 report's release. 
 
¶3. (U) In 2008, the UHRC registered 1,060 human rights complaints 
against 873 individuals.  Three hundred of those accused of 
perpetrating human rights violations were private citizens.  The 
UHRC reported that 237 members of the Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces 
(UPDF) and 148 police officers were also accused of human rights 
violations.  The report did not specify how many of these 
individuals were ultimately found guilty of offenses.  More than 450 
cases were still pending by the end of 2008. 
 
¶4. (U) Nearly 30 percent of the 1,060 human rights complaints 
recorded by the UHRC in 2008 involved allegations of torture, cruel, 
inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment.  The next largest 
category of abuses involved alleged violations of the rights of 
children, which accounted for 22 percent of the UHRC's cases.  While 
the number of human rights violations registered by the UHRC in 2008 
declined slightly from 2007, the number of cases involving 
allegations of torture and inhuman treatment increased.  The UHRC 
attributed this increase to efforts to confiscate illegal weapons in 
the Karamoja region, and "poor supervision of lower cadre police 
officers, particularly Special Police Constables, who are usually 
involved in the arrest of suspects." 
 
¶5. (U) The UHRC awarded approximately USD 300,000 to human rights 
victims during the year.  Of this, approximately USD 215,000 was 
awarded as compensation for "the violation of the rights to personal 
liberty and freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading 
treatment or punishment." 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Recommendations for the Ugandan Government 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) The UHRC articulated a number of recommendations designed to 
further protect human rights in Uganda. Noting that 56 percent of 
Uganda's estimated 28,205 incarcerated individuals are awaiting 
trial, the Commission highlighted lengthy trial delays, 
overcrowding, and poor health services as the main challenges facing 
Uganda's prison system.  The Commission also determined that 
detention of suspects beyond the constitutional limit of 48 hours 
was "rife," and attributed this, however, "mainly to logistical 
problems experienced by police, making it difficult for them to take 
suspects to court or complete investigations in time."  The report 
also highlighted delays by state attorneys, the absence of state 
attorneys and "police surgeons", and the lack of basic transport for 
police officers as contributing to the frequent violation in the 
48-hour limit on the detention of suspects. 
 
¶7. (U) Reports of human sacrifice increased from 3 cases in 2007 to 
18 in 2008.  The UHRC recommended applying Uganda's "Witchcraft Act" 
to fully prosecute such crimes, and widespread information and 
education campaigns.  In its examination of the plight of internal 
displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda, the Commission 
highlighted the need for potable water, health care, schools and 
trained teachers, housing, and land. 
 
¶8. (U) The UHRC urged Parliament to ratify legislation prohibiting 
torture as well as cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.  The 
UHRC also urged the Government to eliminate "safe houses" used by 
security forces, and specifically the Chieftaincy of Military 
Intelligence (CMI), to detain and interrogate suspects, and asked 
the Government to improve cooperation with the Commission to ensure 
 
KAMPALA 00001218  002 OF 002 
 
 
more frequent access to existing safe houses. 
 
------------------------------- 
Comment: A Helpful Contribution 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) It's good news that the UHRC is once again functioning 
after a six month hiatus.  The UHRC operates about as independently 
as a government human rights commission appointed by the President 
can in contemporary Uganda.  The U.S. Mission meets with UHRC 
members on a regular basis, and the Commission's efforts represents 
a good faith attempt by the Ugandan government to publicly address 
human rights concerns and compensate victims of human rights 
violations. 
 
¶10. (SBU)   Although UHRC touched on issues of torture and "safe 
houses" in its recommendations, the UHRC registered only a handful 
of complaints against the paramilitary outfits - to include the 
Police's Rapid Response Unit (RRU), the Internal Security 
Organization (ISO), Local Defense Units (LDUs), the CMI, and the 
JATT - which are Uganda's more renowned human rights violators 
(reftel).  As a result, the UHRC is missing a critical piece of the 
human rights story in Uganda.  Our human rights and security sector 
contacts believe that victims of these paramilitary units are 
unlikely to refer allegations of human rights violations to the UHRC 
because they see the organization as not fully independent and not 
effective in reining in the paramilitary units that commit abuses. 
Instead, if they report their cases at all, they go to international 
NGOs, like Human Rights Watch, which has an antagonistic 
relationship with the government.  As per reftel, in our view, it is 
the continued impunity and lack of accountability at CMI, JATT, and 
the other shadowy paramilitary and security agencies that the UHRC 
and the Ugandan leadership needs to address, in addition to 
continuing ongoing efforts to professionalize ordinary police, 
prison, and UPDF units. 
 
 
LANIER