Prepare well for polls, Police told

RIGHTS|POLICE|#ElectionsWatch2021

KAMPALA - A human rights body has urged the Police to prepare well for 2021 polls in order to minimise operational mistakes that may result in the violation of human rights.

"Desist from excessive use of force while effecting arrests," the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) executive director, Dr Livingstone Ssewanyana, said Tuesday (December 22, 2020), shortly after the launch of the report on people's rights.

The report titled Right to liberty and security of person during the Covid-19 pandemic in Uganda 2020 was launched at the FHRI offices in Kampala.

Ssewanyana called on the Police to always conduct a proper assessment of the situations before taking action.

Ssewanyana said failure to do due diligence by the Police and other security agencies had resulted in an increase in cases of arbitrary arrest and detention of people beyond the mandatory 48 hours.

"People must be told the reasons for their detention, which must be communicated promptly and in the language they understand," he said. The report document incidents of arrest of people over breaching the curfew.

"Our research established that persons found outside during the curfew were arrested, but those that gave law enforcement officers money were released," he said.

Respondents said the Police did not record statements from them while at the detention facilities and that they only learnt of the charges against them after being arraigned in court which compromised the quality of their defence.

The report also cited an increase in corruption practices by law enforcement officers.

According to the research, 98% of the people who were arrested for flouting the COVID-19 directives were either released or granted Police bond upon payment of money ranging from sh50,000-sh500,000.

People were kept in detention until they secured their freedom through bribes," Ssewanyana said.

The excessive use of force by law enforcement officers, the report said, resulted in grievous bodily injuries and death of victims.

"The force applied by law enforcement officers was far beyond the prescribed principles of proportionality, reasonability and legitimacy," John Bosco Thembo, the research associate, said.

He called on the Police and the army to punish individual officers who conducted themselves in an unprofessional manner.

"Hold accountable individual officers who have participated in human rights violations," Thembo said.

The human rights activists also called on the Judiciary to unconditionally release suspects who have been unreasonably detained.

James Kusemerwa, the legal and human rights officer of the Uganda Police Force, acknowledged that there were operational challenges that can be corrected in the course of operation through coordinated efforts from both the Government and non-government actors.