'Gruesome evidence affecting mental health of judges'

JUDGES|MENTAL HEALTH|COURT|CRIME

KAMPALA - Judges have called for more support to deal with mental health challenges as a result of dealing with gruesome evidence brought to court when handling cases of murder and trafficking persons, among other criminal acts.

This was revealed by Justice Duncan Gaswaga, a judge at the International Crimes Division of the High Court, during a dialogue on trafficking in persons at the Judicial Training Institute in Nakawa, Kampala, yesterday.

Whereas judicial officers handle all sorts of cases, Gaswaga said the aspect of self-care or psychological counselling is not accorded to them, a move he said could impact their health and judgment of cases.

"We listen to many things and, at times, you get hallucinations when you get back home. There was a time when I was handling bad cases of drug trafficking and murders. All these cases are stressful. When you hear the horrible things that happen, it affects you," he said.

Gaswaga is currently handling the case of Thomas Kwoyelo, the former Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commander. Kwoyelo was captured in 2009 from the DR Congo and faces charges of murder, hostage taking, kidnap with intent to murder and aggravated robbery, among others.

How they cope

Whereas such a case like Kwoyelo could take a long period of time to get completed, Gaswaga said they have nothing to do, but to soldier on.

The bad evidence, especially brought by video or photographic clips, could also cause one to develop fear or lead one to leaving the job. "I try to divert my attention from court work after hearing bad evidence.

I also rely on church and try to get involved with children and community outreaches," he said, adding that there is a need to provide counselling to judicial officers.

Annette Kirabira, a counselling psychologist, described the judge's experience as secondary trauma that requires counselling and healthy social support. Kirabira, who is also the country director of Rahab Uganda, a non-governmental organisation that deals with restoring the image of those that have been sexually exploited and trafficked, said judges need to be trained to have self-care plans that involve having rotational schedules, tracking mechanisms to know how much they have taken in, to avoid secondary trauma, as well as taking leave, to step away from their routine work.

The training attracted 15 judicial officers. The event, organised by Dwelling Places, Rahab Uganda and Terre des hommes, was meant to streamline avenues through which magistrates and judges can collectively advance judicial victim responses.

James Yesiga, the country manager of Terre des hommes, said a performance report on countering trafficking in persons in Uganda, 2018 indicated that Uganda remains a main source, transit and destination country of victims.