EU trains lawyers, medics in anti-torture laws

By Mathias Mazinga

THE European Union Progamme Specialist on Human Rights, Conflict, Gender and Children, Sayson Rossette Meya, has  asked medical and legal practitioners in Uganda, to equip themselves with the requisite skills to document and investigate cases of torture, so that the respective cases taken to court can have evidence to implicate the perpetrators of torture.

“Torture and ill-treatment are among the most abhorrent violations of human rights and human dignity. Torture is a tragedy for the victims. It also degrades and injures those that perpetrate it. Impunity to torture impacts negatively on individuals as well as societies which tolerate such outrages. The corrosive effect of torture erodes important values of human dignity and the rule of law in the societies where it takes place.”

Meya was delivering her opening remarks at the Istanbul Protocol Guidelines Training Workshop for Doctors and Lawyers at the Imperial Botanical Hotel, Entebbe, on Monday.

The training was organised by the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), a local non-governmental organisation that gives holistic treatment to torture victims,  to acquaint medics and legal officers with due knowledge of the Istanbul Protocol of the United Nations (1999).

The protocol, which was also endorsed by Uganda, in 2002, contains internationally recognized standards and procedures on how to investigate and document cases of torture.  It further provides comprehensive practical guidelines for the assessment of persons who allege torture and ill-treatment, for investigating cases of torture and for reporting the findings to the relevant authorities for further action.

Meya commended the government of Uganda for being one of the few African countries to come up with an anti-torture law, The Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act, 2012. She nonetheless decried the culture of impunity, which continued to deny the torture victims justice.

“In the climate of impunity, perpetrators of torture can continue their crimes without risking arrest, prosecution or punishment. Besides adding to the suffering of the victims, such a situation leads to a general lack of trusting justice and the rule of law. Consequently, few complaints are brought forward and few actual prosecutions are made.

Meya called for concerted efforts by the different actors, for example the medics and the legal practitioners, to enhance the implementation of the anti-torture law.

The Chief Executive Officer of ACTV (African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims), Samuel Herbert Nsubuga, said his organisation aimed at putting in place an effective network of legal and medical people, who will deal effectively with the problem of torture and its effects.

Dr. Margaret Mungherera (the immediate Past President of World Medical Association and member of the Board of ACTV), encouraged medics and legal practitioners to acquaint themselves with the guidelines of the Istanbul protocol and be able to use them to prevent the anticipated politically motivated torture ahead of the 2016 general elections.

The weeklong training supported by the European Union is running under the theme: Strengthening mechanisms for prevention of torture through awareness creation on the anti-torture law.