The Inter-Parliamentary Union Standing Committee on Human Rights for Parliamentarians is set to send a team to Uganda to collect more evidence on the alleged torture and detention of Members of Parliament.
The team, according to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga will also meet President Yoweri Museveni and the Attorney General about the safety of legislators after it emerged that MPs Francis Zaake (Mityana Municipality), Robert Kyagulanyi (Kyadondo East) and others who were arrested in Arua on August 13, 2018, were tortured in custody.
Three MPs have had to seek medical treatment abroad after what they describe as “nasty” encounters with the government security forces.
As such, the IPU wrote to Speaker Kadaga demanding an explanation – a letter she forwarded to the Attorney General’s Chambers for an appropriate response.
Kadaga who is Geneva for the 139th IPU conference says Uganda on Thursday, came top in the reports of human rights violations of MPs for the first time in Parliament’s history.
Although the IPU members commended Parliament’s efforts to ensure the welfare of its members, the union has insisted on coming to Uganda to study the situation first-hand in a bid to find a long-lasting solution to the Legislature-Executive impasse.
“The team will come to Uganda and will be present in Court when the MPs are tried with treason. They will also meet the president and Attorney General on the alleged torture and other human rights violations of members,” the Speaker said.
Apart from the Arua by-election incident, the Special Forces Command invaded Parliamentary Chambers at the height of the Age-Limit debate and arrested MPs.
Mukono Municipality MP, Betty Nambooze and Francis Zaake were the most affected as they both sustained back and head injuries respectively from the fracas.