Uganda Human Right Commission and UN human rights have raised concern about the upsurge of human rights violations by the UPDF against the pastoral communities as the insecurity in Karamoja escalates.
Human rights groups say the rights of Karamojongs especially those in rural areas are often violated by the joint security forces during their operations in the region. Yusuf Logiel, the programme Assistant at UN human rights, says that their monitoring activities show an upsurge in human rights violations.
He says that they have registered 83 cases since January 2021 against the Joint security forces, 50 of which have been resolved. Some of the cases registered include extortion of pastoralists by UPDF, arbitrary detentions, killing of innocent civilians, misappropriation of property especially impounded animals and torture among others.
Currently, the joint security forces are conducting cordon and search operations where soldiers typically surround homesteads in the middle of the night and daytime and force residents outside while their houses are searched for weapons.
During the Karamoja regional protection meeting held on March 24, 2022, Logiel noted that between January 2021 and March 2022, they referred 38 cases of human rights violation to UPDF and another 12 to the Uganda Police Force.
He advised the security personnel to learn how to talk to the civilians as they carry on their operations in a good manner. Logiel explained that torture is not allowed in the operations and advised the officers to pay great attention to the women and children.
Maj Isaac Oware, the UPDF 3rd Division spokesperson admitted that there were human rights violations in the exercise of their duties. He, however, said that they have since reviewed the operations of Usalama Kwa Wote and explored better methods of implementing it without violating anyone’s rights.
Oware revealed that they take all complaints of rights violations seriously. He cited the suspension of a battalion commander who was implicated in cattle theft to pave way for investigations.
In an effort to fight human rights violations, David Opio the Karamoja Regional Prisons commander said that they have established Human rights committees in all prison units to ensure total observation of people’s rights.
Alfred Okello, the Senior Probations officer in Abim district, says that they have established mobile courts at the sub-county level to help the community get justice and this has enabled them to report some of the pressing cases in society.
However, human rights bodies are concerned that only a few security officers have been prosecuted for the abuses committed during the ongoing disarmament operations.
