Mbarara prison inmates have called for observation of human rights laws saying they are tortured on top of spending more than 48 hours in cells before being charged in courts law.
Speaking to a delegation of opposition legislators led by Leader of opposition in Parliament Winfred Kiiza, Katabazi Kayambire the inmates’ leader at Kakika Prison said most of the prisoners are tortured and crippled during their arrest by security forces.
He said most times, when prisoners die the blame goes to prison wardens, yet the prisoners are inflicted on grievance harm during arrests.
“Inmates also claim that they were framed, tortured while giving statements and forced to admit commission of some crimes, Although some prisoners are guilty of crimes but many innocent people are in prison because of corruption in the Police and the judiciary,” he said.
He said prisoners were not registered during the countrywide registration and would find it hard to get along without national identity cards when they leave prison.
Kiiza appealed to the judiciary to hasten the cases of inmates who have been on remand for long periods, in some cases for over five years, “We are aware that the Judiciary has always had a problem of Judges. Parliament recently passed a law to increase the number judges,” she added.
Kiiza promised to fast track the law on the provision of free Legal Services by Ugandans, saying that the necessary funds are available, but the item only requires prioritization by government.
The Principal Judge, Yorokamu Bamwine, said prisoners remained on remand for longer periods than expected because the Judiciary was understaffed and lacked the necessary funding.
“The Judiciary is generally understaffed. In Mbarara, we have just two judges for the whole region,” he said adding that “In Mbarara Main Prison we have over 1,000 inmates yet the two judges are also in charge of three other districts,” Bamwine said.
Bamwine appealed to Parliament to increase the budget for the Judiciary and improve its staffing to help reduce on the case backlog in the courts.
The MPs who are the oversight tour focusing on prisons, judiciary and police in western Uganda include Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi (DP, Butambala), Hon. Anna Adeke Ebaju (Ind., Youth, National), Hon Robert Centenary (FDC, Kasese Munic.), Hon. Francis Gonahasa (FDC, Kabweri), Hon. Betty Muzanira (FDC, Rukungiri district), Hon. Medard Ssegona (DP, Busiro East) and Hon. Johnathan Odur (UPC, Erute South).