{UAH} CANADA IS A DEFINITE "NO GO" FOR TINYEFUNZA

Uganda: Information on Brigadier David Tinyefuza (Tinyefunza), Minister of State for Defence, including his role and involvement in the fighting in northern Uganda, and whether he was directly or indirectly involved in human rights abuses

Publisher	Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Author	Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada
Publication Date	1 January 1996
Citation / Document Symbol	UGA22237.E
Cite as	Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Uganda: Information on Brigadier David Tinyefuza (Tinyefunza), Minister of State for Defence, including his role and involvement in the fighting in northern Uganda, and whether he was directly or indirectly involved in human rights abuses, 1 January 1996, UGA22237.E, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab5440.html [accessed 18 December 2013]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

According to Africa Confidential, David Tinyefunza is of Rwandan ancestry, having descended from Tutsi refugees who fled Rwanda for southern Uganda in the 1960s (22 Mar. 1991, 7).

In 1986 Tinyefunza was a National Resistance Army brigade commander on the western front in northern Uganda (Africa Confidential 12 Feb. 1986,2; BBC Summary 8 Apr. 1986). In the summer of 1989 he was chief of combat operations for the Ugandan army (ibid. 3 June 1989; Defense and Foreign Affairs July 1989). In June 1990 Radio Kampala described him as a Major-General (6 June 1990), a rank he continued to hold after he was named Minister of State for Defence in December 1989 (Radio Uganda 7 Dec. 1989). Tinyefunza was a minister of state until he was dismissed 10 November 1992, possibly because of human rights violations reportedly committed by the army when he was a commander in the north (AC 4 Dec. 1992, 8; ARB 1-30 Nov. 1992, 10776-7). Following his dismissal as a minister of state, Tinyefunza was named defence advisor to President Museveni, who is also Uganda's Minister of Defence (ibid.; AC 4 Dec. 1992, 8).

For information on Tinyefunza's participation in the fighting in northern Uganda, please consult the attachments.

In Uganda: The Failure to Safeguard Human Rights, Amnesty International reported that "the army's high command has failed to take concerted and effective action" to end extrajudicial killings by the NRA (Sept. 1992, 30).

The same report states that Tinyefunza rejected the conclusions of a Ugandan investigation of the 1991 arrest, ill-treatment and torture of 18 political and community leaders from northern Uganda (ibid.). The report stated that the arrests had taken place on the order of the minister of state for defence (ibid., 52). For additional information please consult the Amnesty report, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.

In Uganda: Human Rights Violations by the National Resistance Army, Amnesty International reported allegations that NRA troops had committed human rights violations during "'cordon-and-search'" operations that had been "personally supervised" by Tinyefunza (Dec. 1991, 3). For additional information from this report, please consult the attachments of Response to Information Request UGA22238.E of 10 January 1996, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.

For additional information on human rights violations directly or indirectly involving Tinyefunza, please consult the attached documents.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Africa Confidential (AC) [London]. 4 December 1992. Vol. 33, No. 24. "Uganda: Papal Jitters."

_____. 22 March 1991. Vol. 32, No. 6. "Uganda/Rwanda: No Room."

_____. 12 February 1986. Vol. 27, No. 4. "Uganda: Götterdämmerung in Gulu."

Africa Research Bulletin (ARB) [Oxford]. 1-30 November 1992. Vol. 29, No. 10. "Uganda: Defence Minister Dismissed."

Amnesty International (AI). September 1992. Uganda: The Failure to Safeguard Human Rights. (AFR 59/05/92). London: Amnesty International.

_____. December 1991. Uganda: Human Rights Violations by the National Resistance Army. (AI Index: AFR 59/20/91). London: Amnesty International.

Defense and Foreign Affairs [Alexandria, Va. July 1989. "Uganda." (NEXIS)

Radio Uganda [Kampala, in English]. 6 June 1990. "Uganda Committee to Investigate Embezzlement Allegations." (BBC Summary 11 June 1990/NEXIS)

_____. 7 December 1989. "Uganda: New Minister of State for Defence Sworn In." (BBC Summary 8 Dec. 1989/NEXIS)

Attachments

Africa Confidential [London]. 4 December 1992. Vol. 33, No. 24. "Uganda: Papal Jitters," p. 8.

_____. 22 March 1991. Vol. 32, No. 6. "Uganda/Rwanda: No Room," pp. 6-7.

_____. 12 March 1986. Vol. 27, No. 6. "Uganda: Mission Completed," pp. 7-8.

_____. 12 February 1986. Vol. 27, No. 4. "Uganda: Götterdämmerung in Gulu," pp. 1-2.

Africa Research Bulletin (ARB) [Oxford]. 1-30 November 1992. Vol. 29, No. 10. "Uganda: Defence Minister Dismissed," pp. 10776-77.

_____. 1-31 August 1991. Vol. 28, No. 7. "Uganda: Rebel Death Toll," p. 10249.

_____. 1-31 July 1991. Vol. 28, No. 6. "Uganda: 'Mopping-Up' Operations," p. 10217.

_____. 15 November 1989. Vol. 26, No. 10. "Uganda: Rebel Chief Surrenders," p. 9462.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 22 May 1992. Epajjar Ojullu. "Ugandan Government Admits Army Atrocities in Anti-Rebel Operations." (NEXIS)

_____. 31 July 1991. "Africa News Summary; Kampala." (NEXIS)

_____. 7 May 1991. Epajjar Ojullu. "Eighteen Ugandans Charged with Treason." (NEXIS)

BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. 27 August 1988. "Uganda Government Soldiers Executed in Public for Murder." (NEXIS)

_____ [Kampala, in English]. 5 April 1986. "NRA Commander's Address to People in Arua." (BBC Summary 8 Apr. 1986/NEXIS)

Home Service [Kampala, in English]. 30 May 1989. "Ugandan Military Chief Says Lakwena Group 'On the Run'." (BBC Summary 3 June 1989/NEXIS)

_____ [Kampala, in Swahili]. 29 March 1989. "Ugandan Army Tightens Security in North." (BBC Summary 1 Apr. 1989/NEXIS)

_____ [Kampala, in English]. 20 March 1987. "Uganda to Investigate Trouble Between NRA Soldiers and Muslims." (BBC Summary 23 Mar. 1987/NEXIS)

Inter Press Service (IPS). 20 May 1991. "Uganda: 300 Rebels Surrender in the North East Region." (NEXIS)

Radio Uganda [Kampala, in English]. 6 June 1990. "Uganda: Committee to Investigate Embezzlement Allegations." (BBC Summary 11 June 1990/NEXIS)

Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 29 June 1988. "Kenyan Government to Investigate Ugandan Claim on Arms Lifting." (NEXIS)

Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower