{UAH} AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 1985 PAGE 7 {These are the UPC friends that replaced Iddi Amin}

IV REPORTS OF TORTURE

From the testimonies of many former detainees Amnesty International

has been able to compile a detailed picture of conditions and the use of

torture within military barracks. Many reports refer to Makindye barracks

in Kampala as the most notorious of these, but conditions in other places

of military detention are reported to be similar.

On arrival at Makindye it is reported that detainees are normally

taken to a section just inside the main gate known as the "quarter guard".

One former detainee describes how there were a large n r of prisoners in

the four cells of the "quarter guard" and that they had to sleep in

squatting positions one behind the other. In or outside the "quarter

guard" new prisoners are usually beaten with iron bars, cable, pieces of

wood into which nails have been driven, rifle butts, n as (machetes) or

hammers. In soae cases prisoners are alleged to have died as a result.

After the "quarter guard", prisoners are taken to other sections of

Makindye. The largest section, which figures in many former detainees'

accounts, is known as the "go-down". This is a long concrete building with

a corrugated iron roof, a former store. It has an iron door and no

windows, but a few ventilation holes. The n rs held there reportedly

vary but are sometimes more than 100. According to all accounts the

turnover of prisoners is rapid.

Prisoners held in the "go, at Makindye barracks are reported to

be fed infrequently, perhaps twice a week, and also rarely given water.

According to one former prisoner: "People often begged for your urine

because they had gone so long without water." This claim is repeated by a

r of former prisoners. Food, when it is available, consists of poorly

cooked sho (maize meal porridge), often with maggots in it.

prisoners are apparently able to bribe guards to let them have food

provided by their families.

One w described to Amnesty International how she was served with

food in Muhoti barracks in Fort Portal. She said that prisoners were oEten

given a hot, watery bean stew which was poured into their cu hands. It

was often too hot for them to hold. At the same time sho was thrown into

the cell. It was impossible to catch both before they la on the floor,

which was covered with dirt and excreta.

Toilet facilities in the "go- " at Makindye and in most places of

military detention consist of an oil drum or bucket in the room where

prisoners are held, which the prisoners can only empty infrequently, often

as rarely as once a month. former detainees report that the floor of

the "g n was covered with water. No ing is provided.

It is reported that many prisoners die in the "g n", either from

starvation or as a result of their beatings. Their bodies may not be

removed for up to two weeks. Similarly, a detainee who was held for two

months in Kireka barracks in 1984 alleges that approximately five people

died there each day as a result of starvation or torture.

 

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika machafuko"