Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone targeted a residential apartment in the al-Natour Square in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City
Israeli media, citing the occupation army: We tried to "eliminate" Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida
Al-Mashat: I call on everyone worldwide to avoid dealing with any assets of the entity, and there is still an opportunity for settlers to return to their countries
Al-Mashat: A final warning to all companies in the occupation entity to leave before it’s too late
The Israeli occupation army carries out a deadly airstrike on a populated residential building in the densely populated al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, resulting in dozens of fatalities and injuries: Al Mayadeen's correspondent
Al-Mashat: We say to Gaza, we stand firm regarding our stance, no matter the sacrifices
Al-Mashat: We will meet challenge with challenge, and you will no longer have any sense of security
Al-Mashat: We say to the Zionists, our revenge is unyielding, and dark days await you
Al-Mashat: We will take revenge, and we will come out victorious from the depths of our wounds
Al-Mashat: Our people are capable of overcoming all difficulties and challenges, and the enemy will not be able to break our steadfastness, nor will we be intimidated by raids or terrified by threats

HRW asks Uganda to shut torture black sites

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 22 Mar 2022 11:15
3 Min Read

HRW has urged Uganda to shut down illegal detention centers in a report featuring interviews with witnesses and former detainees.

  • x
  • Ugandan writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija displays scars on his back he claims were inflicted by torture, Feb. 8, 2022 (AP)
    Ugandan writer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija displays scars on his back he claims were inflicted by torture, Feb. 8, 2022 (AP)

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday that the Ugandan government must stop using its practice of illegal detention as a weapon against its dissidents and must close the facilities.

HRW released this statement in a report documenting the use and prevalence of torture in black sites. The report was also backed with interviews with 51 people, among whom were 34 former detainees in these sites, and people who witnessed the abductions at the hands of police and army forces, as well as the country's intelligence agency (ISO) between April 2019 and November 2021.

The crackdown on the government's political dissidents reached a high note in the two months before Uganda's general elections, which took place in January 2021. The period saw instances of unlawful detainment of government, with some forcefully disappearing.

The location of the detained remained unknown in a number of these instances, according to HRW, even more than a year after the elections ended with the re-election of President Yoweri Museveni, who has been ruling Uganda since 1986.

"Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Uganda to immediately close all so-called safe houses and other unauthorized detention centers," the organization said, adding that "authorities should immediately release all detainees held in such places of detention or bring them promptly before a court to be charged."

Related News

Israeli attacks on Gaza schools amount to war crimes: HRW

HRW accuses 'Israel' of 'acts of genocide' over Gaza water access

Torture black sites

The victims related their stories to HRW, wherein they were forcefully put into vans, known locally as "dones", and were taken to clandestine detention facilities supervised by the ISO.

The locations of the sites ranged from residential neighborhoods in Uganda's capital, Kampala, to an island in Lake Victoria. According to the accounts, the detainees were tortured, with their captors pulling out their fingernails, burning them with an iron, or sexually assaulting them.

Some victims were handcuffed, chained, and suspended from the ceiling for 12 hours at a time in what is called a "Rambo". Other incidents included being injected with unknown substances, getting shocked with electricity, while others had bricks hung from their testicles.

Award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija (pictured) fled to Germany in February for medical treatment, saying he was tortured during his detention over charges of insulting the president and his son.

The Ugandan parliament's house committee on human rights had published a report in February 2020, documenting cases of torture at the detention centers, calling for a probe into the issue, but nothing happened.

"The Ugandan authorities, as a matter of urgency, need to reform the police and other security agencies to dismantle the structures that have enabled these horrific abuses to occur and go unpunished,” said Oryem Nyeko, Uganda researcher at HRW.

  • HRW
  • Human Rights Watch
  • Uganda
  • torture
  • prisons

Most Read

Fierce resistance ambushes target IOF in Gaza Strip

Fierce resistance ambushes target IOF in al-Zaytoun, Gaza City

  • Politics
  • 30 Aug 2025
Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025
Although it does seem likely they will launch some kind of operation in northern Gaza, one which will accelerate its mass murder of civilians, but will fail to achieve its stated objectives. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Here is why the Israeli occupation of Gaza won’t work

  • Opinion
  • 26 Aug 2025
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The martyred Prime Minister Ahmad Ghaleb al Rahawi, in an undated photo, Yemen (social media)
Politics

Yemen mourns Prime Minister, ministers killed in Israeli aggression

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, greets Argentina's President Javier Milei in the IsraelÙ‡ parliament, in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Wednesday, June 11, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Human rights lawyers seek Netanyahu's arrest in Argentina

Radiographer Coralie Gil prepares to enter the room of a COVID-19 patient in the COVID-19 continued care unit at the la Timone hospital in Marseille, southern France, Friday, Dec. 24, 2021 (AP)
Health

French hospitals urged by MoH to prepare for war by March 2026

US Demoratic senators demand baby formula be sent to Gaza
US & Canada

US senators demand 'massive surge' of baby formula for Gaza infants

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS