UGANDA Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has demanded the immediate closure of five prisons, most of them Local Administration Prisons (LAPs), saying they are a threat to the lives of inmates.
The LAPs to be closed are Kiboga, Hoima, and Bubukwanga in Bundibugyo and Masafu in Masindi.
Also to be closed is the Amuria local government prison located 45km from Soroti Government Prison.
The 174-page UHRC report shows that conditions of inmates in those prisons are appaling.
It cites torture, congestion, under-feeding and detention of juveniles in the same cells as adults.
UHRC asked the Government to transfer the inmates in Kiboga to Kigo, Luzira, Masindi or Isimba LAPs and those in Bubukwanga to Katojo, Rwimi, Ibuga or Mubuku.
The report recommends that inmates at Masafu be transferred to Morkatipe prison in Tororo district and those in Amuria to Soroti government prison.
UHRC regretted that most LAPs, like Amuria and Ntenjeru in Mukono, had a very unhygienic environment with no proper sanitation facilities or water sources.
“Lice and skin diseases torment the inmates since most prisons cannot afford disinfectants and pesticides,” the report said.
The report said torture in LAPs had reduced but there were isolated cases recorded in Ilukwe in Mayuge, Bugembe in Jinja, Bubukwanga, Hoima, Nyabuhikye and Kiboga.
