Delay Court Martial death sentences

Mar 03, 2008

The UPDF 3rd Division court martial on Friday convicted and sentenced to death a soldier found guilty of killing three civilians in Mbale town last year.

The UPDF 3rd Division court martial on Friday convicted and sentenced to death a soldier found guilty of killing three civilians in Mbale town last year. There have been several convictions of a similar nature before, the most controversial being the 2002 execution of two soldiers by firing squad in Kotido for killing a white priest, Fr. Declan O’toole.

The controversy had nothing to do with the powers of the court or the sentence but rather the rush with which the convicts were killed without being allowed the opportunity to appeal against the sentence.

Article 22 of the Constitution states that, “No person shall be deprived of life intentionally except in execution of a sentence passed in a fair trial by a court of competent jurisdiction in respect of a criminal offence under the laws of Uganda and the conviction and sentence have been confirmed by the highest appellate court.”

There are two lessons from this constitutional provision.

First, the court must have jurisdiction to try the offence. The courts martial have such powers because they are established by law, the UPDF Act. Nobody is questioning the trials by or the decisions of such courts if proper procedures such as the rules of natural justice are followed.

Secondly, for a death sentence to be carried out, it must have been upheld by the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal before.

There are no exceptions to this; it applies to both civilians and soldiers because the Constitution is the supreme law. It is only after the Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence that it can be carried out.

Therefore, Pte. Zephar Muhumuza should not be killed hastily. If he is unable to appeal, the law provides that a lawyer be availed at the expense of the state.

Nobody condones impunity; neither a soldier nor a civilian should take another person’s life and go unpunished. But soldiers must feel that the law offers them equal protection as civilians for them to respect the law.

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