I. Summary
They said, "So you have refused to tell us what we need to know." Then they took off my Muslim cap and took off all my clothes so I was just in my underpants. They told me to lie down on the floor and then they began beating me. They were saying to me, "Are you sure you aren't a member of the Allied Democratic Forces? Are you sure you have no bombs?" They beat me very badly; every part of me, and blood was coming out of me all over. Someone was writing things down in a notebook in the room.
-Fisherman, arrested and detained for seven months by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force agents in the suburb of Kololo, Kampala and released without charge, August 10, 2008.
People here talk of a Guantanamo in Kololo. People here do not talk of rights.
-Religious leader, August 14, 2008.
The Kampala suburb of Kololo, filled with the luxury mansions and ambassadors' residences, is the location of one of Uganda's most notorious illegal detention centers. It is run by, and serves as the headquarters of, the Joint Anti-terrorism Task Force (JATT). This report details unlawful detention, torture and enforced disappearances by JATT, by military intelligence and other security personnel associated with JATT.
In recent years, the most serious human rights violations in Uganda have taken place in the long northern war between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the government, during disarmament initiatives in the insecure northeast and in the context of government harassment of political opponents. Even though most of the country currently enjoys relative stability, state-sanctioned abuses by security forces and impunity for those responsible continue. Research by Human Rights Watch, as well as other nongovernmental organizations, has found that torture and prolonged illegal detention remain among the most recurrent and intractable human rights violations in Uganda.
Human Rights Watch research indicates that JATT has committed serious human rights violations in the course of its operations. These include prolonged incommunicado detention of terrorism and treason suspects at the JATT headquarters in Kololo, and the routine use of torture during interrogations both in Kololo and at the headquarters of military intelligence in Kitante, another Kampala suburb. In research between August 2008 and February 2009, Human Rights Watch documented 106 cases of illegal detention by JATT, ranging from one week to over 11 months; these had taken place over the previous two years, the most recent in late 2008. Many of the 106 arrests occurred in the months leading up to Uganda's hosting of the November 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM). In more than 25 instances, detainees were also tortured or subjected to other ill-treatment.
JATT is a joint unit, formed in 1999, that draws its personnel from the armed forces (the Uganda People's Defense Force, UPDF), the police, and the internal and external intelligence organizations. The intelligence branch of the armed forces, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), has operational command. JATT has no codified mandate, though the head of CMI told Human Rights Watch that JATT was established to deal with the threat posed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But individuals allegedly linked to other groups, such as Al-Qaeda, have also suffered at the hands of JATT. Former detainees also told Human Rights Watch of non-Ugandans held in Kololo for long periods of time, although it is unclear why most of those individuals were detained.
Human Rights Watch found that JATT personnel typically operate in unmarked cars, carry out arrests wearing civilian clothes with no identifying insignia, and do not inform suspects of the reasons for their arrest. Those taken into custody are not told they are being taken to Kololo, and are frequently blindfolded, handcuffed, and sometimes beaten during the journey. Detainees have no access to lawyers or family members and only learn of their whereabouts from other detainees or by spotting Kampala landmarks visible from the Kololo plot.
Under Ugandan law, Kololo is not a legal detention facility because it has not been "gazetted," as required under the Ugandan constitution. Human rights monitors and members of the Ugandan Human Rights Commission have been denied access. According to former detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch, JATT fails to turn suspects over to police or bring them before a magistrate within the 48 hours required by the constitution. Contrary to safeguards in Ugandan criminal procedure, many detainees spend months in poor conditions.
Human Rights Watch documented the deaths in 2006 and 2008 of three detainees from abuse sustained while in JATT custody. According to eyewitnesses, in 2007 JATT agents shot and killed another former detainee at his home after his release. In addition, Human Rights Watch found that at least six individuals believed to have been detained in mid-2008 are apparently victims of enforced disappearance-they were last seen in the Kololo facility but have never reappeared and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Former Kololo detainees reported to Human Rights Watch torture and other brutal treatment carried out by JATT and CMI personnel during interrogations. Some described being hit repeatedly with the butt of a gun, slapped in the head and ears, or beaten with fists, whips, canes, chairs and shoes. JATT and CMI personnel put detainees into painful stress positions and forced red chili pepper into eyes, nose and ears, which causes excruciating pain. Some described being shocked with electricity. They reported watching others being beaten and tortured by JATT agents, as well as observing other people with bruising, swelling and wounds. Many reported seeing detainees struggling to walk, or having to be carried by fellow detainees to vehicles. One detainee lost his leg due to infection in a wound caused by a severe beating.
According to court records and interviews by Human Rights Watch, the majority of detainees were never charged with any criminal offense after being suspected of ADF involvement. While some were charged, many others were released without charge. It remains unclear how many of the 106 detainees held by JATT of whom Human Rights Watch is aware ultimately applied for amnesty, though amnesty is available under Ugandan law to those who admit to taking up arms against the government. Some of those interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported that they were physically coerced by JATT agents to apply for amnesty. Others said that long-term incommunicado detention and a lack of legal assistance compelled them to seek amnesty despite their insistence that they had no involvement in any rebel activity. If a detainee seeks amnesty, the government will not prosecute, but the detainee is stigmatized as a rebel or a terrorist, fears complaining of mistreatment by JATT, and might be targeted in the future.
Some former detainees told Human Rights Watch that after varying lengths of incommunicado detention in Kololo, they were brought to the police, charged with treason or terrorism and transferred to Luzira maximum security prison near Kampala. According to court records in Kampala, in 2008 ten individuals were charged with terrorism in three different cases, all related to ADF-activity. Of those cases, five of the individuals sought amnesty after having been charged and held on remand in Luzira prison. Four cases are still pending before the high court. None have gone to trial to date.
The types of human rights violations described in this report have periodically been raised with Ugandan government authorities by human rights organizations, the media, and members of parliament, but military and civilian leadership with command responsibility over JATT have so far failed to curtail the abuses or to investigate, let alone prosecute, those responsible. Human Rights Watch raised specific cases documented in this report with the chief of military intelligence, Brig. James Mugira, by letter and in person. The brigadier said that he would investigate all allegations of mistreatment of detainees and that individuals would be held criminally responsible for torture, but Human Rights Watch is unaware of any action taken to date. He accepted that some detainees had been held longer than the constitutional limit but denied that this could ever have been incommunicado or have amounted to several months. While agreeing to continue dialogue with Human Rights Watch, he nevertheless denied requests by Human Rights Watch to visit the JATT headquarters in Kololo. At the time of writing, no JATT or CMI personnel had been prosecuted for the abuses documented here.
The manner in which JATT carries out its operations-deliberate efforts to conceal arresting officers' identities and affiliations, disorienting suspects by blindfolding them while in transport, failing to inform detainees of the reason for their arrest, long-term incommunicado detention, and interrogations involving torture-reflects what appears to be a flawed policy on alleged rebel or terrorist activity, which includes committing serious violations of national and international law.
The Ugandan government has a legal responsibility under international law to investigate allegations of abuses by its forces and to hold those responsible to account. Under the constitution, President Museveni has a duty to safeguard the constitutional rights and welfare of his citizens. Given the many allegations of torture by members of his security forces, he should take an active role in curtailing those abuses and ensure that prosecutors have the independence to investigate torture and illegal detention by JATT. The members of the National Security Council (NSC), comprised of key government actors in the security and law enforcement sector, such as the Ministers of Defence and Internal Affairs, should insist on an end to violations of human rights and Uganda law committed by ad hoc security groups like JATT, as well as accountability for past abuses. Parliament also has a mandated duty under Ugandan law to oversee the work of the military, the police and the intelligence organizations, including JATT. But that oversight has not taken place, and allegations of abuse have been dismissed, down-played or ignored by senior military commanders.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Ugandan government to end all torture and mistreatment of detainees; to stop arrest and interrogation by security forces, including JATT, without the authority to do so; and to release all detainees from the JATT headquarters in Kololo and close it as a place of detention. Any detainees in JATT custody for whom there is a legal basis for detention should be transferred immediately to police custody, and charged with a legally cognizable offense, if appropriate. The government should promptly inform the relatives of each detainee of their whereabouts, condition, and the charges against them. Those charged should be tried before courts that meet international fair trial standards.
Donor governments to the Ugandan security sector, such as the United States and United Kingdom, who are training and supporting Uganda's counterterrorism operations, should work to ensure that basic rights are afforded to all suspects. These donors should withhold counterterrorism-related funding to the Ugandan security forces until the Ugandan government investigates abuses by JATT and CMI and prosecutes as appropriate those found to be involved.