Security agents accused of torture

A report released this week by the Uganda Human Rights Commission has accused government security agents of torture. Margaret Sekagya, of the human rights commission told IRIN that the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) - a military intelligence security department in the Ugandan People's Defence Force (UPDF) - and the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) - part of the ministry of internal affairs, which controls internal security - had been heavily implicated in the report. There were 158 cases of torture reported in 1999, 97 cases in 2000 and 152 in 2001, the report said. The majority of cases occurred while victims were being held in custody. The report added that torture continued to exist in Ugandan society because of the impunity that resulted in the government's reluctance to punish the perpetrators. The human rights commission has given training to more than 60 police officers since October 2001 on how to use a police human rights training manual which was developed in 1999, Sekagya told IRIN.