Executive approves mandatory death for terrorism convicts

By John Agaba

The executive has approved the principles for amending the 2002 Anti-Terrorism Act, including a clause highlighting a mandatory death penalty for persons convicted of terrorism.

Information minister, Rose Namayanja, said yesterday that the new amendments will enable the country pre-empt and respond better to the changing trends in terrorism which remains a "global threat."

The clause stipulating a mandatory death penalty for persons convicted of terrorism, will make death the only option for terrorism convicts, once the amendments are approved by Parliament and the Act assented to by the President.

Uganda still remains one of the few countries with the death penalty. For capital offences like murder, aggravated rape, defilement, armed robbery and treason, among others, the convict can be sentenced to death.

However, this discretion lies with the judge presiding over the particular case. But, in this case, once the amendments in the Anti-Terrorism law are approved, the judge can only sentence you to death.

“He (the judge) does not have another option, but to sentence you (the convict) to death." Moses Watasa, the commissioner for information, explained. “The death penalty is going to be the only punishment written in the law.”

However, the Cabinet proposal is unlikely to go without criticism, seeing as the mandatory death penalty is already a contentious issue in the country.

In 2005, the Constitutional Court, in a petition by Susan Kigula and 416 others against the Attorney General, declared death sentences on 417 prisoners on death row unconstitutional.

The argument was that the nature of the sentences (mandatory death penalty) did not provide the Court with the opportunity to take into account any individual mitigating circumstances that might make the death penalty an inappropriately severe punishment.

The Court provided the Government with a two-year period to give effect to the judgment, after which date all death sentences should be set aside.

The Court also ruled that any prisoners who had been on death row for more than three years were entitled to have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

The Attorney General filed an appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court. But, in 2009, the Supreme Court upheld the 2005 Constitutional Court decision and affirmed that the mandatory death penalty and excessive delay on death row are unconstitutional.

However, Namayanja, said: "we are including these amendments in the Act because we want to mitigate the threat of terrorism. If Courts challenge the decision, it is constitutional. But, we can always appeal."

"If someone is involved in terrorism acts where people are killed, then they deserve the death penalty," Namayanja said.

Uganda, on July 11, 2010 suffered two terrorism attacks at the Kyadondo Rugby Club and the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala, Kampala, where over 74 soccer fans died and close to 100 others got injured.

Other amendments in the Act include definition of the term "fund", which Cabinet wants to be harmonized with the International Convention on the Containing Financing for Terrorism, 1999, as assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable.

This component also encompasses the mode of acquisition/transfer of such assets; for instance, legal documents'/instruments, whether in electronic or digital. The documentation may include but not be limited to bank credits, travellers' cheques, money orders, shares, securities, bonds, drafts and letters of credit.

Cabinet also wants the definition of the words "terrorism" and "Acts of Terrorism" to be adjusted to include the international aspects envisaged by the UN Convention Against Terrorism.

"Since the current Anti-Terrorism Act was enacted in 2002, the methods of planning, financing and execution of terrorist activities have become more sophisticated." Namayanja said. For instance, terrorists are increasingly taking advantage of advances in ICT to plan and communicate and execute heinous crimes. Through acts of money laundering, they are increasingly able to conceal and transfer resources to finance their illicit activities. This, therefore calls for review of relevant laws and regulations from time-to-time, for instance, in the case of Uganda, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Anti-Terrorism Act and the Penal Code Act.”

Quoting the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court ruling in 2009, Serere Woman MP Alice Alaso said mandatory death penalties are inconsistent with the Constitution since they restrain the Court in evaluating the circumstances of the offence in order to mitigate the sentence and arrive at an appropriate punishment.

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