By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
KAMPALA
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has strongly condemned the manner in which the Uganda Human Rights (UHRC) is handling cases of human rights violations in the country.
This condemnations follow recent report about tortured and missing of supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP).
On October 10, UHRC chairperson, Mariam Wangadya disclosed they have closed investigations in cases of 18 missing NUP supporters, part of a list of 30 individuals provided by the party secretariat for investigation.
Wangadya revealed that attempts to get whereabouts of the 18 missing persons failed as they could not be found in detention facilities. She added that NUP did not provide National Identification Numbers (NIN) to the commission which hindered the verification of their identities.
The commission boss further cited ‘uncooperative behaviour’ from the next-of-kin of the missing persons as a major challenge.
“Some individuals outright refused to cooperate with investigators and others displayed lack of interest in assisting with the investigation,” Wangadya reported
She said the commission contacted the listed individuals or their next of kin during investigations.
“Some revealed that those who were arrested had been released on police bond or court bail. Only four out of the 12 individuals were willing to have their cases further investigated, with the majority declining to provide statements to the commission,” the statement noted
However, the FDC spokesperson John Kikonyogo has criticized the report demanding for Wangadya’s resignation
“You tell me 18 of them you don’t know where they are. You should resign if you can’t do your work,” Kikonyogo said
FDC accused the commission of working for government than serving the interests of Ugandans. They tasked UHRC to put government to task to produce all political prisoners in courts if they have cases to answer or get them released.
“Human Rights Commission is there to defend rights of individuals. But here, the UHRC is like as of it’s a branch of the government trying to defend it,” Kikonyogo added.
