A Ugandan activist, certainly one of dozens detained this week for collaborating in banned demonstrations, was sexually assaulted in custody, his lawyer has stated.
Greater than 90 youths had been arrested and a few had been charged with being a public nuisance following anti-corruption protests that hit the capital, Kampala.
A few of these launched from detention have additionally reportedly stated they’d been sexually assaulted whereas in police cells, sparking widespread criticism. However police denied the allegation.
The 2 days of anti-corruption demonstrations went forward on Tuesday and Thursday regardless of a warning from President Yoweri Museveni that the protesters had been “taking part in with hearth”.
The protesters, impressed by latest anti-tax demonstrations in Kenya, had been demanding the resignation of the parliamentary speaker, who has been accused of corruption, which she has denied.
However the Ugandan riot police rapidly stopped the protests, bundling a number of younger activists, together with a outstanding TV presenter, into the again of lorries.
Some are dealing with quite a lot of prices however an unknown quantity stay in police custody, native media reported.
Referring to the allegations of sexual assault his consumer skilled, lawyer Eron Kiiza stated whereas it was not frequent for individuals to be attacked like this in police cells it did occur.
“He was sodomised instantly after he was detained,” he instructed the BBC.
The lawyer defined that the police imagine the protesters are backed by international funders – a reference to those that have minimize funding or had been essential of Uganda for adopting the world’s harshest anti-homosexuality legal guidelines final yr.
“The police suppose that homosexual persons are funding the protests,” Mr Kiiza stated, including that his consumer was instructed in the course of the assault: “’Now you earn it.’
“It occurs within the wake of desperation of some guys within the police [who are trying] to discover a connection between the protests and the so-called international funders,” the lawyer stated.
“It is sort of a revenge act.”
Mr Kiiza stated he had medical paperwork that present the sexual abuse and he would use them to sue the authorities as soon as his consumer was accomplished with remedy and rehabilitation.
He declined to call his consumer or the station the place the alleged abuse passed off, citing safety fears.
Different activists, each female and male, had been additionally sexually abused whereas in detention, opposition chief Bobi Wine has alleged.
“Only some of them had the braveness to publicly talk about their ordeal. Very lots of them have reported to us however worry or really feel ashamed to discuss it in public,” Bobi Wine, a former pop star whose actual identify is Robert Kyagulanyi, added.
The allegation has sparked uproar on social media with Ugandans calling for an unbiased investigation into the matter.
“If true, the individuals doing which will the Lord choose you!” Youth Minister Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, posted on X.
The minister acknowledged that the allegations had been dehumanising and stated the nation’s police chief ought to examine them.
The US embassy in Kampala stated in a press release: “We urge that any allegations of people assaulted in detention be investigated and perpetrators be held accountable.”
Nonetheless, police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke dismissed the allegations as “unfounded” and “malicious”.
“The police are very acutely aware of the rights of suspects and take their tasks significantly,” Mr Rusoke added in a press release.
On Thursday, President Museveni praised the police for shutting down the protests, which he stated had been funded by “international sources”.
“Very unhealthy issues” could be revealed in courtroom in regards to the protesters, he added in his submit on X.
Amnesty Worldwide has known as for a direct and unconditional launch of all those that had been arrested.
“The heavy-handed techniques utilized by the Ugandan authorities to stifle and silence peaceable protesters present a manifest clampdown on dissent,” the rights group added in a press release.
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