----- Original Message -----
From: "celiba" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Yoga Adhola" <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 11:10 PM
Subject: Re: Human Rights Watch pins torture on Uganda governement.


> The only I know is that Ms Jemera Rone is not going to see the inside of
> those safe houses.
> The denial won't help. Let her sent a copy Rice and the ............
>
> Charles Eliba
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Yoga Adhola" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 9:30 PM
> Subject: Human Rights Watch pins torture on Uganda governement.
>
>
> > US report pins govt on torture
> > By Frank Nyakairu
> > March 30, 2004
> >
> > It's baseless - Nagenda
> >
> > KAMPALA - The Ugandan military and security forces beat up political
> > opponents, tie them up and dangle them from the ceiling just to extract
> > confessions, a Human Rights Watch report says.
> >
> > "The torture includes the gang rape of females; and mutilating the male
> > genitalia of suspects, through kicking, beating with sticks, puncturing
> with
> > hypodermic needles, and tying the penis with wire or weights," the
76-page
> > report released yesterday says.
> >
> > Other forms of torture, the report says, include issuing death threats
and
> > showing suspects piles of corpses and snakes.
> >
> > The report, titled the "State of Pain: Torture in Uganda", documents
cases
> > of torture allegedly committed by the military, intelligence, and
security
> > agents in the government's pursuit of armed rebels.
> >
> > In what most victims consider a state-sanctioned campaign of political
> > suppression, a summary of the report says official and ad hoc military,
> > security and intelligence agencies have increased practicing illegal and
> > arbitrary detention and extra judicial executions, and using torture to
> > force victims to confess.
> >
> > According to the report, forced confessions link the suspects to
> > government's past political opponents or current rebel groups.
> >
> > Other forms of torture include kandoya (tying hands and feet behind the
> > victim) and suspension from the ceiling of victims tied kandoya, the
> report
> > says.
> >
> > "Liverpool" water torture, the Rights Body says, involves forcing the
> victim
> > to lie face up, mouth open, under a flowing water spigot.
> >
> > Severe and repeated beatings with metal or wooden poles, cables, hammers
> and
> > sticks with nails protruding, pistol-whipping, electrocution, male and
> > female genital and body mutilation, death threats through showing fresh
> > graves, corpses and snakes -have resulted in the death of detainees in
> > custody.
> >
> > An informal survey at Kigo Prison, where "political" cases are held,
> > indicated in June 2003 that 90 percent of detainees/prisoners had been
> > tortured during their prior detention by state military and security
> > agencies.
> >
> > "Uganda set up a shadow sector of security operations to contend with
> armed
> > rebel groups and crime waves," said Ms Jemera Rone, a researcher for the
> > Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.
> >
> > She is based in New York.
> >
> > "But now, the security system serves to punish and deter political
> > opposition by detaining and torturing supporters of the political
> > opposition," she added.
> >
> > "People are swept up into a security apparatus that is operating outside
> the
> > law. Uganda's security system has served to keep victims of the
> government's
> > abuse silent and its perpetrators immune from punishment."
> >
> > The report further says that in 2001 the government established a system
> of
> > covert "safe houses" -unacknowledged and illegal places of detention
where
> > most suspects are held incommunicado.
> >
> > The Constitution requires military, security and intelligence agencies
to
> > promptly turn suspects over to police for detention.
> >
> > Since 2001, however, these agencies and new ad hoc security agencies
> created
> > without legal status by the government - the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task
> > Force, Operation Wembley and its successor Violent Crime Crack Unit -
have
> > defied laws regulating arrest and detention with no consequences.
> >
> > In a two-page letter to the rights body dated March 13, 2004, the head
of
> > Military Intelligence, Col. Noble Mayombo, called on the rights body to
> > establish a minimum presence in Uganda if it is to do its work better,
and
> > also visit some of the so-called torture sites.
> >
> > The Senior Presidential Advisor on Media and Public Relations, Mr John
> > Nagenda, told The Monitor that the report is a disgrace. It is compiled
by
> > people who know nothing about the country.
> >
> > "We want to know the names of these people they claim we are holding
> > incommunicado. Let them show us the safe houses," he said.
> >
> > Nagenda said that much as all countries run safe houses, the Ugandan
> > Parliament asked government to dismantle them.
> >
> > "I therefore dismiss this report as trivial, biased, based on rumor and
> > gossip they could pick up," he said.
> >
> > While appearing on 93.3 Monitor FM's Andrew Mwenda Live show last night,
> Lt.
> > Gen. David Tinyefuza equally dismissed the report as baseless. He said
> there
> > are no safe houses in Uganda.
> >
> >
> >
> > © 2004 The Monitor Publications
> >
> >
>
>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~