The UHRC has divided the responsibilities of its commissioners into different divisions including civil education, investigations, prisons, international treaties, library, editorial board (for editing reports), and finance and administration. The commission holds an annual meeting to determine their priorities and direction for the year.73

In its first year of existence, the UHRC received a total of 352 complaints of human rights abuses (between November 1996 to December 1997), a rate which has been steadily increasing as the UHRC becomes better known in Uganda's rural areas. According to the UHRC chair Margaret Sekaggya, they receive anywhere from twenty to thirty complaints a week either in writing, in person, or referred from the Inspector General's office.74 Among those complaints investigated were a significant number of complaints of illegal detention and torture by the police, army, and other security organs, often a very sensitive area of human rights abuses to investigate because of the potential of retaliation from such agencies. The UHRC also announced in March 1998, that it was investigating allegations that police were abducting Rwandan and Congolese refugees in Uganda, a commendable development because abuses against refugees are often overlooked by local human rights groups.

In June 1998, the UHRC investigated a spate of arrests of Muslims associated with the Jamuiyat Ad-Daawa Asalafiya, a break-off of the more mainstream Tabliq Muslim community in Uganda. Security agencies suspected the group of having ties to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group operating in Western Uganda.75 The UHRC's investigation concluded that the estimated eighty Muslims had been arbitrarily arrested, kept illegally in ungazetted places of detention, and had not been charged within the required forty-eight hours. In a public statement, the UHRC made its findings public and ordered the immediate release of the suspects.76

The UHRC conducted unannounced surprise visits to twenty-four central government prisons, twelve local government prisons, eighteen police stations, five reformatories and remand homes, as well as pre-arranged visits to three military facilities. Detention conditions in Uganda, and the administration of justice in general, continues to be one of the main focus areas for the UHRC. The UHRC has organized major workshops on the issue of prison reform, inviting human rights activists, prison and police officials, the Uganda Law Society and other interested parties.

Commissioner Karusoke, who is in charge of prison issues at the UHRC, gave a detailed and accurate overview of the dismal prison conditions in Uganda during a meeting with Human Rights Watch in April 1998. The UHRC has investigated many cases of torture and illegal detention, and has made its findings public in its annual report and occasionally through press releases. For example, the UHRC 1997 annual report documents several cases of torture of detainees in prison as well as the unconscionably long pre-trial detention to which some prisoners are subjected, sometimes amounting to more than ten years. The following selection from its annual report gives some idea of the straightforward manner in which abuses are documented by the UHRC:

Long remands form the most serious human rights violation in our prisons. Remand prisoners form the bulk of Uganda's prison population: in 1997 there were about 8,000 remand prisoners in a prison population of 13,000. Long remands without trial are a direct violation of the right to a speedy trial and fair hearing . . . . In June 1997 Patrick Gweri had been on remand in Katojo prison since 1987 on a charge of robbery. In the same prison Bagonza Wilberforce and Nyakahuma Mohammed had been held without trial since 1991. Another bad case in Katojo prison is that of No. RA 35432 Sgt. Kabuliteka Gideon and two others who have been held since 1991 . . . . Another case worth citing is that of Frenjo Olima, who was taken to Arua prison from Maracha in 1984 by the administration on charges of murder. He was acquitted by a judge in 1991, but it is said that the state attorney caused him to be sent back to prison. By 1997 he had been detained for ten years [sic., actually 13 years]. Neither he nor the prison authorities knew why he was there.77

In December 1998, the Human Rights Commission's tribunal began hearing cases in Kampala, presided over by the commission's chair. The first case was a widow accusing the former district police commander of murdering her husband.78 The tribunal hears a variety of cases where conflicts have not been resolved through outside mediation. They usually award compensation to the victim of the abuse, but occasionally also suggest that the case be prosecuted in regular criminal court.79 Also, the commission uses information presented in the cases to further their investigations into human rights abuses.

In 1999, the commission increased its focus upon the police and has "intensified visits to Police Stations in and around Kampala."80 The UHRC offered eight seminars for policemen to "sensitize police on issues of human rights," and also published a Police Human Rights Training Manual in cooperation with the police department.81 According to UHRC commissioner Rev. John Waliggo:

This type of work is more important than screaming loud about individual cases. There is a slow change in the police. Police and army have human rights desks now, and torture has decreased. The young policemen are especially interested in the education program. They sometimes ask what they should do if they witness ill-treatment by their superiors. We tell them that it is good that young policemen ask that question even if they can't do anything immediately.82

In Uganda's not-so-distant past, security agencies acted with complete impunity in violating the human rights of the population. During the administrations of Idi Amin and Obote II, many Ugandans lived in constant fear of the security forces, and asserting one's human rights against arbitrary violations clearly was not a possibility. After decades of such abuse, it is one of the UHRC's primary tasks to educate the population about their human rights and assure them that asserting those rights may lead to an end to abuses.

Since its inception, the UHRC has made human rights education a priority of its work. In order to reach a population which remains largely rural and often illiterate, the UHRC has broadcast popular weekly radio broadcasts on human rights topics in five languages, and has participated in a number of television programs on human rights topics. In addition, the UHRC engaged in a large number of civic education seminars for local leaders, religious groups, NGOs and other civil society organizations. A number of informational booklets were produced by the UHRC aimed at educating citizens about their fundamental human rights. The UHRC has collaborated broadly in its education mandate and sought to involve both the nongovernmental community and other government departments. The UHRC created a Civic Education Coordination Committee, chaired by the UHRC, that includes two NGO representatives and government representatives from the electoral commission, the Inspector General's office, and the judicial service commission among others.

The public education campaign seems to have some effect. During the April 1998 visit of Human Rights Watch to the offices of the UHRC, a number of citizens came to the UHRC to present their cases. However, as several commissioners admitted to Human Rights Watch, the impact of the UHRC in the rebel destabilized areas of Northern and Western Uganda, home to some of the most egregious human rights problems in the country, is limited at the moment. The UHRC has undertaken only limited visits to rebel-destabilized areas of the country, mostly for prison inspections, but its work is not well known in these areas. Several commissioners commented that the UHRC hopes to open up regional offices in these areas in order to have a more substantive impact on human rights issues in conflict zones.

The UHRC introduces a new level of oversight into the work of the security agencies of Uganda, a level of oversight which previously did not exist. In the past, security agencies acted with relative impunity, accountable only to themselves and higher political authorities. Not all agencies have been willing to accept this new oversight by the UHRC, and cooperation with the UHRC has often been spotty. Chair Margaret Sekaggya noted that the prisons department was the most cooperative government department with some understanding of the role of the UHRC. However, attempts by the UHRC to hold other government agencies accountable for their actions faced greater resistance.83 According to Commissioner Aliro Omara:

One big problem with our work is that a number of government agencies do not yet appreciate our role. They are shocked when we investigate them. They don't understand it when we investigate government. There has been no direct interference with our independence, but that is not to say that we have not been frustrated at times, as when our inquiries or recommendations are not acted upon.84

Not surprisingly, the most uncooperative government agency has been the army, the Ugandan Peoples' Defense Force (UPDF). Even though the UHRC is empowered by the law to visit any place of detention "where a person is suspected to be illegally detained," the UPDF continues to insist that the UHRC seek prior approval for any visit to military facilities. This undermines the very function of inspection visits, according to the UHRC: "This clearly deprives the UHRC of the element of surprise, which is of great use when visiting prisons and police cells."85

The UPDF has on several occasion used this self-imposed prior notice requirement to subvert the investigations of the UHRC. When the UHRC sought permission to visit Corporal Twaha Kabusera at Mulago hospital to investigate claims that he had been tortured, the Corporal was transferred to an undisclosed location within hours, apparently to prevent an investigation. The UHRC did find Kabusera after an intensive investigation and established that he had been severely tortured in UPDF custody.86 The UHRC received no cooperation from the UPDF when it identified the military personnel who were suspected of torturing Kabusera and asked to interview them. Similar non-cooperation has taken place in other cases involving the Ugandan police. In its first annual report, the UHRC concluded:

Some officials in the army and police appear not to appreciate [the UHRC's] work. When the UHRC investigates an official of an army or police department, the entire department tends to close ranks. Our inquiries appear to be taken as unimportant and of low priority. They are frequently unanswered.87