A group of five Ugandans were yesterday briefly arrested and detained by Police in Switzerland for disrupting a United Nations Committee on Torture session.
The protesters stormed the meeting on Thursday while Uganda’s Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka was making a presentation on steps taken by the Kampala government to address cases of torture.
Draped in clothes with pictures of alleged Ugandan torture victims, the women entered and walked about in the room voicing loudly their concerns about the Ugandan government.
“Uganda is bleeding,” shouted one of the protesters, forcing the committee chairman Mr Claude Heller to pause the session.
The microphones were then muted but the protesters carried on until security was brought on to escort them out.
These were then handed over Swiss Police, according to Ugandan journalist Remmy Bahati, which detained them briefly and let them go.
During the meeting Mr Kiwanuka explained that the government of Uganda has held stern position against torture and ensured that perpetrators face justice.
“Courts of law have vehemently upheld the non-derogation of the right to the freedom against torture and ill-treatment,” he said.
“Several orders have been made including compensation awards to victims of torture, discontinuation of criminal proceedings on account of torture of suspects as well as holding perpetrators of torture personally accountable.”
The UN Committee against Torture has been holding its 75th session in the Swiss capital since late last month, and will be running till November 25th.
The committee is reviewing efforts by Uganda, Australia, Chad, El Salvador, Malawi and Somalia to implement the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee adopted the session’s agenda.
