MUST READ:
When American Backed Neo-liberal dictatorships Crush Satirical novelists: Ugandan satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija who was arrested on December 28, 2021 badly tortured by Museveni’s Dictatorial regime
https://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2022/01/when-american-backed-neo-liberal.html
Kakwenza's wife sues SFC commander, IGP
https://observer.ug/news/headlines/72392-kakwenza-s-wife-sues-sfc-commander-igp
Police defy court order to release Kakwenza
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/police-defy-court-order-to-release-kakwenza-3674730
What you need to know:
Mr Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arrested on December 28 and he has since been in detention without access to his lawyers or family.
Uganda Police Force has defied an order to release novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija unconditionally despite lawyers serving them with documents on Tuesday.
Mr Rukirabashaija was arrested last year on December 28 and he has since been in detention without access to his lawyers or family.
On January 4, Makindye Chief Magistrate Court, Grade One Magistrate Irene Nambatya ruled: “It is hereby ordered that the applicant be unconditionally released from police custody. Every police officer should comply with the above order”.
Mr Eron Kiiza, the lawyer of Mr Rukirabashaija, said they served the police officer with a court order, but up to date they have defied them.
“They got the orders and are yet to respond,” Mr Kiiza said.
On Monday, the spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate, Mr Charles Twiine, said they were to present Mr Rukirabashaija in court on Tuesday on charges of offensive communication under the Computer Misuse Act against President Museveni and his son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also the Commander of Land Forces.
Mr Twiine yesterday could not readily give a comment on why they were still detaining Mr Rukirabashaija.
Of late, the police have been accused of ignoring court orders, but last November the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka warned them to desist from such impunity.
On November 4, 2021, Mr Kiwanuka wrote to Inspector General of Police Martins Okoth-Ochola, ordering police to always comply with all the court directives to avoid litigation and awards.
“The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to advise you to direct your officers to comply with the said directives of the court and perform their duties and obligations as is required under the law as failure to do so many lead to contempt of court proceedings filed against the Inspector General of Police personally,” Mr Kiwanuka wrote then.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga then said they would comply with the court orders as directed by the Attorney General.
International and local human rights activists have condemned the continued detention of Mr Rukirabashaija.
United States of America Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Senator Jim Risch said the incommunicado detention of Mr Rukirabashaija is one of the troubling examples of continued stifling of dissent and punishment of critics.
“#Uganda authorities continue to stifle dissent & punish critics. The house arrest of opposition leader @HEBobiwine last month & incommunicado detention of @KakwenzaRukira - despite a court order to produce him in court - are new & troubling examples,” Senator Risch said.
State must not regress on rule of law
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/editorial/state-must-not-regress-on-rule-of-law-3673730
By EDITOR
What you need to know:
- The issue: Rule of law
- Our view: For as long as we still have courts of law sitting and dispensing justice, there must be hope. Security operatives must comply with the courts before they regress beyond redemption.
Acclaimed novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was by press time since held incommunicado by security operatives. Arrested last week in what Police said was for offensive communication under the Computer Misuse Act. The charges are related to his social media engagements targeting the President and members of his family, Rukirabashaija has only been seen and heard from once – on Monday when he was driven to his Iganga home for a search.
The manner of detention without trial was already grave enough, especially after it emerged that the novelist turned up weak, in bloodied clothing and complained of torture, during the search of his home on Monday, according to his lawyer. But what aggravates the situation and is of graver concern is the fact that Rukirabashaija has remained out of touch even after court ordered for his immediate and unconditional release.
The abhorrent nature of repression and impunity with which the State security acts in total disregard of the same law and Constitution they vow protect is repulsive. This is a government that was defined by the democratic ideals it preached from the 1980s until the late 1990s. Indeed, the government made efforts, to live bywhat it preached.
However, the creed has been regressing into worse and worse caricature with each passing year. Ugandans have seen security operatives kidnap suspects freed by courts right in front of the Temple of Justice many times that what is happening to Rukirabashaija, who was never arraigned before the Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court that ordered his release, is hardly shocking.
But then therein lies the danger. The laws of nature dictate that it is scarier for the Kite when the Mother Hen does not fight back when its Chicks are snatched. This is just one of the malaise in a deepening democratic crisis.
It is one thing to be wary of Dr Kizza Besigye and Mr Robert Kyagulanyi. The two are Opposition figures who command a lot of audience beyond the borders and the seas. But for a writer who can hardly command the attention of 10 random folks in downtown market, the manner with which the State has acted shows they are increasingly scared of everything and anything, the pen inclusive.
But it is never too late to make things right. The State must not act like it is beyond redemption. The rule of law that the government continues to preach can never be entirely a lost cause. For as long as we still have courts of law sitting and dispensing justice, there must be hope.
Security operatives must comply with the courts before they regress beyond redemption.