Activists task President Museveni to act and not ‘speak out’ on torture

By Ritah Kemgisa

Activists are challenging the President to walk the talk against torture.

The President has on several occasions condemned torture and in one of his national addresses last year he slammed as “lazy and ill-disciplined” police for using torture as a means of obtaining confessions from suspects in their custody.

The president added that “evidence through torture is not reliable, unnecessary, wrong and must not be used again.”

However, the executive director Center for Constitutional governance Sarah Bireete says much as the president has spoken out about torture, he has done nothing to stop the vice.

Speaking to NTV this morning, Bireete accused the president of allegedly appointing some of the perpetrators of torture like the Deputy Chief of Defense Forces, Lt Gen Peter Elwelu whom she claims has been implicated in the November 2016 Kasese massacre.

The EU and its member states in Uganda have in a recent statement tasked the government to make a comprehensive investigation into all reported abuses in the country including the November 2020 riots where about 54 people were killed.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna