Top police chiefs worried about Anti-torture Bill

By Pascal Kwesiga

Barely a month after it was passed by Parliament, top Police chiefs are worried that the Anti-torture Bill that is awaiting presidential assent to become law, will complicate the work of the force.

During a three-day dialogue between Police officers and Uganda Human Rights Commission that closed on Friday at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel Entebbe, the Police top brass expressed worry that the law will land more Police officers in prison than criminals.

The dialogue was organised by the rights’ commission.

A source that attended the closed-door meeting added that the Police chiefs said they are worried about some of the provisions in the Bill, which allows one to drag them individually to court on accusations of torture, instead of suing the Attorney General.

The Bill prohibits the transfer of a suspect from a gazatted detention facility to ungazatted place in cases where there is the possibility of torture and prescribes the imprisonment of any person or security officer that hides detainees with intent to torture them.

According to the Bill, evidence can be expunged from court records if a suspect proves that he confessed to having committed the crime after being tortured.

A source said the criminal investigations director, Grace Akullo, noted that by outlawing safe houses, the Bill will cripple the Police investigators.

The Police bosses recommended that the constitutional requirement of 48-hours as maximum time for detaining a suspect before trial be reviewed and cases that require long periods of investigation categorised.

They also asked the commission to enhance its reporting on the situation of human rights in the country by being balanced and providing a clear picture regarding complaints that are still allegations.