Despite tear gas being internationally accepted as a non-lethal weapon to disperse crowds, Police Political Commissar AIGP Asan Kasingye has revealed that the force and other security agencies will no longer use teargas to quell demonstrations.
While appearing before human rights committee of Parliament, Kasingye said that the force is set to adopt other measures but also warned that tear gas might be used in case it turns out to be the last resort measure.
His comments come after former presidential candidate Patrick Amuriat from the Forum for Democratic Change complained to the same committee that him together with his campaign team braved doses of teargas throughout the campaigns.
Amuriat also told the committee how he was violently treated by the men in uniform during the 2021 presidential elections.
“I was arrested 41 times, sometimes more than once a day and was kept in police custody in Mpigi, Kakumiro, Mbarara and Gulu, three times of which I was arraigned in court, including appearing before a magistrate at 8pm in Kakumiro,” he said.
Police defended themselves saying Amuriat and his team were intentionally disobeying lawful orders.