Uganda Law Society Petions Chief Justice Over Governments Violation of Human Rights

8/7/2019 Uganda Law Society Petions Chief Justice Over Governments Violation of Human Rights

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UGANDA LAW SOCIETY

PETITION

BY UGANDA LAW SOCIETY TO THE HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE

COGNISANT of the fact that fo r the past years an d in particular, following th epromulgation of the 1995 Constitut ion Uganda has been walking along the pathto Rule of Law, Constitutionalism and Democratic governance.

WHEREAS Chapter Four of th e Constitution guarantees th e enjoyment offundamental rights and freedoms as inherent and not granted by th e state andobligates all organs and .agencies of government to respect and uphold theserights and freedoms;

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AND REGOGNISING that Article 212 in the same Constitution mandates th ePolice to keep la w and order;- a situotion that may sometimes call for thelimitation in the enjoyment of these rights and freedoms AND in apparentrecognition of the need for Police to be able to execute this mandate and, inorder for th e people not to prejudice th e rights and freedoms of others, th eframers of our constitution also made provision for Article 43 which renders th erights and freedom prescribed by the Constitution as no t being absolute byproviding for qualified instances where these rights may at times be subjected tolimitations in public interest. Even then, the same article provides that no such

limitation should go beyond what is acceptable an d demonstrably justifiable ina free and democratic society or what is provided under th e constitution!

However, along this otherwise hopeful highway in the constitutionaldevelopment of our country, there have been a string of events which havesince sent clear signals that, as a country we have since lost the direction the setby the 1995 Constitution as our compass as we strive to move along the path ofConstitutionalism and Rule of law.


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We are concerned about th e events of the last three wee 'ks and current humanrights situation obtaining in th e country and the role of th e Pol ic e Force (and

ihdeed the Other security organs including the military) in keepino law andorder, We are especially appalled by the e ~ e n t s of th e recent past where Policehas been caught in th e middle of circumstance s that have led to wide-spreadcondemnation on their high handed responses to situations causing injury tomany people (the civilian population) and in some instances , even loss of lifel

Without any doubt , th e whole situation as it stands , is an ominous ind icator ofthe growing level of human rights violations and the impunity that goes with it; a situation precipitated by th e apparent competing interests of citizensexercising their fundamental rights and the brutal police crackdown Inexecuting their mandate of keep ing la w and order.

On the one hand, an attempt to exercise fundamental freedoms and rightsenshrined in chapter 4 of th e Constitution an d on the other hand, an attempt tokee p la w and order as stated under article 212 of th e Constitution.

This situation is posing a great challenge to the operation of the Constitution andcalls for th e need to interrogate both interests with a view to finding the bestformula for th e co-existence of the two , - i.e.. the enjoyme.n.t .of fundamental

rights ofthe

people andth e mandate of th e

Police in its role of keepingla w

andorder.

It is no longer just about civil and political rights of people wh o wish todemonstrate but the whole range of fundamental human rights being violatedin the course of th e crackdown on protests. People have been brutalized,inhumanly battered and manhandled and lives lost .

Innocent school children , patients, pregnant women and babies have alsobeen affected as they are being subjected to the obno xious tear gas (sic!)indiscriminately hurled into schools, medical facilities and even in poor people'senclosed and narrow dwelling places. We ar e also concerned about Reports ofmedia houses being directed to stop live coverage of these events also raiseconcern as this may be construed as . an attempt to sti fle information andprevent th e exposition of the atrocities committed during the crackdown.

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This is ' a contest that has caused untold suffering to many people eithergenuinely believing that they ar e exercising their rights under th e constitution bybringing to the attention of th e authorities and their fellow citizens matters whichthey consider to be of public interest and or.Those who use th e event to furtherother ulterior motives such as those who take advantage of th e situation tocommit crimes and perpetuate lawlessness. Others, including bystanders and oronlookers who choose to playa passive role in matter and or prefer to go abouttheir daily businesses, ar e caught in the cross roads of these two competinginterests have fallen victim of th e backlash of this contest.

The Uganda Law Society is particularly concerned about th e excessive use offorce by th e police and strongly condemns the following;

e The loss of life, injuries to persons and destruction of property;

e Use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians;

G Release of teargas into confined spaces including dwelling houses,school, dispensaries and inside motor vehicles;

CI lndiscriminote beatings of th e members of the public;

~ In inhuman and degrading treatment of citizens in th e brutal and violentarrests of various members of th e public including senior and respectableopposition leaders;

These acts are in contravention of Article 24 of th e Constitution which providesthat; "No per son shall be subjected to any form of torture or cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment".

In addition Uganda is a signatory to th e International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (ICCPR) an d African Charter on Human and People's Rightswhich guarantee civil liberties.

It should be recalled that in 2008 th e Constitutional court in the case ofMuwanga Kivumbi versus Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No 9/05) theConstitutional Court ruled that th e Police no longer has the power to grantpermission or prohibit the enjoyment of fundamental rights with regard toprocessions/demonstrations an d assemblies/rallies.

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Much as th e Constitutional Court went to great length to di scuss all the relevantlaw on the matter including Articles 20, 21 , 29 and 43 and define the powers

and or what is expected of th e Police in maintenance of law and order whiledealing with situations of fundamental human rights, - leading to the annulmentof Police powers under Section 32(2) of th e Police Act, but th e Police seemsnever to have come to terms with this decision!

Even when Rule of Law demands that government organs respect courtdecisions, and indeed Article 20 (2) obligates government agencies like thePolice to respect peoples fundamental rights, to-date and in completedisregard of th e law and th e above Court decision, institutions in the executive

ar m of government have declined to comply and instead of keeping Io w andorder during such situations, th e police continues in the practice of prohibitingpeaceful demonstrations and or on th e enjoyment of fundamental rights asguaranteed by the constitution.

The Uganda Law Society is deeply concerned about th e increasing erosion ofindependence of th e Judiciary which is protected under Article '128 of th eConstitution During this period some members of the public were arrested andsome were taken to court, In this process we witnessed end a ~ ~ concernedabout incidents such as:

e A Magistrates with multiple jurisdictional areas;

A Magistrate abdicating the Constitutional duty to hear an application forbail on th e ground that she is to o busy;

Courts remanding members of the public brought before them beforecharges are read and plea taken;

Other incidents which in th e recent past have cast doubt on th e independenceof th e judiciary include:

The recent refusal by a Chief Magistrate in Mengo to comp ly with anorder of th e High Court,

Police interference in execution of court orders to the extent of vettingjudicial decisions!

Further, the Uganda Law Society is greatly concerned about th e role ofinstitutions in the Justice, Law & Order Sector contribution to the erosion of

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access to justice and public accountability, in contravention of theirConstitutional mandates.

Following our Extraordinary emergency General Meeting held on 2 nd May 2011

to address ourselves to th e current situotion and on th e above concerns, wemembers of the legal fraternity resolved among other things as follows: -

1. To condemn in th e strongest terms possible, brutal conduct of the state inquelling th e protests .the shootings, loss of life, injury to persons and loss ofproperty as well as the inhuman and degrading treatment of citizens

2. To convene at th e High Court on today Wednesday th e 4 th 2011 and

gather in a symbolic and collective expression of our displeosure .with theconduct of th e Police in its brutal response to the events of th e last threeweeks and to express ou r concerns regarding th e apparent interferencein th e independence of th e judiciary. That th e above action would bereplicated at all th e High Court grounds in all the circuits across th ecountry.

3. That once we have convened at the High Court. we would also availourselves th e _o ~ f ? o r t ~ J I l i t y to present to your Lordship a Petition. callingupon your good office to consider and address some of the issues

especially those regarding th e Judiciary and, a request for your Lordship'sindulgence to pass on th e same to th e powers that be on our behalf witha further request to facilitate a dialogue of all th e stakeholders.

4. Uganda La w Society and its members shall provide pro bono legalservices to the members of the public that have been arrested under th ecircumstances cited above;

5. To document all incidents of contravention of fundamental rights and

freedoms of citizens, and calls on Government to hold security officersand public officials who ar e responsible to account;

6. That after following presentation of this Petition, we the the members ofthe Uganda Law Society would for the rest of th e week keep away fromth e Courts as we mourn the apparent death of Rule of Law and to giveth e authorities the opportunity to consider our requests as we also pursueother avenues of dialoguef fro the peaceful resolution of all th e issues

involved.

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We hereby petition Your Lordship the Chief Justice to "urgently address th eabove mentioned grievances to enhance access to justice, rule of la w andrespect for the Constitution in Uganda.

Signed by

~ ~ ,Bruce. K. Deepa Verma Jivram CL.:..,.President Hon. Secretary l--i ) S;-/l J

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Uganda Law Society Petions Chief Justice Over Governments Violation of Human Rights