Disarmament in Karamoja blamed for rise of torture cases.

Northern Uganda registered  the highest number of torture victims in the country ,according to findings by the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, from January to June 2024.

While adressing the media on the state of torture in Uganda, the chief Executive officer of the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, Samuel Herbert Nsubuga  pointed out that Karamoja's disarmament process is a key contributor to the region's high number of torture cases,  individuals suspected of possessing illegal firearms have reportedly faced torture at the hands of authorities. 

Nsubuga said that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces( UPDF), ranked as the highest perpetrator, with 353 recorded cases,followed by the  Uganda Police Force  with 175 cases, while private individuals were involved in 160 incidents.

 According to Nsubuga there are high number of youths that aresurvivors of torture and violence, and during the financial year under review 470 youth who under gone torture were between the ages of 18-30,while 234 were between  31-35 years,and 774 were from 36-years to 58.

How ever the Centre  has acknowledged significant strides by the government towards addressing torture and promoting accountability. 

Nsubuga praised the recent appointments of both the Inspector General of Police and the Deputy Inspector General of Police—both civilians rather than military personnel. 

He  pointed out that this marks a crucial step toward demilitarizing Uganda’s police force, a move that is expected to foster better accountability and prevention of torture within the police.Nsubuga said that although Uganda’s security forces continue to rank as the leading perpetrators of torture, but the collaborative efforts between state institutions and non-governmental organizations have contributed significantly to prevention of torture. 

One such effort is the ongoing capacity-building initiatives for security personnel, aimed at raising awareness of the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act 2012. 

These initiatives also seek to encourage adherence to human rights standards.The African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims also called on Parliament to enact the Witness protection bill 2015 to help victims of torture to  will come out openly to report the perpetrators of torture and if the National Legal Aid bill is passed into law  ,there will be free legal services to victims of torture. 

The program officer of the centre Alex Kigoye said from the current interactions with the victims of torture, most of the survivors are tortured in  the context of being  suspected to be criminals.

Men have come out openly to report the cases of torture than women because they at more risk compared to women. He said that  they will continue to engage with security agencies because they are the major perpetrators.

" We have had  scenarios were some of the agencies have acted out of these dialogues to refrain some of their people from the acts of torture," Kigoye said .