24 January 2006

United States of Canada?

Maybe it is because my thoroughly American family is replete with Canadian relatives and ancestors, but I have never had trouble differentiating between the two countries. Canadians, it seems, haven't had it so easy. Yesterday's national election in Canada (Election? What election? Ask 99% of the U.S. population) will no doubt stir up the identity-crisis-clinical-depression-induced-paranoia-all-wrapped-up-in-navel-gazing that Canadians call their "relationship" with this country. My Canadian "cousins" were folks that climbed into Sopwith Camels in one war, and fought in North Africa (long before us Yanks) in the next. I have always seen them as heroes. I wish Canadians could discover those elements in their heritage to celebrate.


Sydney Morning Herald

So yesterday there was an election in Canada. A parliamentary election. Meaning the party with the most seats gets to have their leader as premier. Meaning a head of the central government with a few more powers of appointment than an American-style president. If the American president had the kinds of powers of a Canadian premier, the president would hold some of the perogatives of the states' governors and a few of the oversight (advise and consent) powers of Congress. All wrapped up in one leader. From the Conservative Party. By the name of Stephen Harper.

As you can see, the new ruling Conservative Party has a bare majority. The BBC reports, "(i)n the run-up to the 23 January vote, the 46-year-old Conservative leader succeeded in transforming his image, from that of a hardline right-winger to a progressive conservative, and moving his party to the centre."

Meanwhile Michael Moore - remember him? Yeah, that's right, the guy who owns Halliburton stock, can't resist the opportunity to whip up some left wing hysteria:

"These are no ordinary times," Moore proclaimed. "And as you go to the polls on Monday, you do so while a man running the nation to the south of you is hoping you can lend him a hand by picking Stephen Harper because he's a man who shares his world view?" For more, see the article in Newsmax. One can easily see where Moore is going with this, fueling already rampant Canadian sentiment: "Do you really want to help George Bush by turning Canada into his latest conquest?"


NotAColony.ca

The great news is that enough Canadians didn't fall for it. And that enough Canadians see themselves in the same image of how I viewed my Canadian relatives from childhood onwards - and Canada has a chance to move forward in that vein.

Liberal Canadian commentator Anthony Westell describes how it happened:

"For years the Liberals coasted to victory in election after election because the centre-right vote was split between the Progressive Conservatives and the Reform, later Alliance, party. In yesterday's election the position was reversed. The right was unified in the new Conservative party while the centre left was split between the Liberals, the NDP and the Greens –not to mention the Bloc Québécois which claims to be social democratic. It's really as simple as that. Final vote totals will show that the majority of Canadians remain center-left in their politics, and Liberal and NDP MPs will outnumber the Conservatives in the new House. However, government in Ottawa may well remain in Conservative hands until their opponents can get their act together."


FiscalStudy.com

Not to worry, though - a significant enough portion of the Canadian population is into the self-loathing that master manipulators like Michael Moore require in order to make their millions.


NotAColony.ca

But as conservative Canadian columnist Mark Steyn said in his column in The Australian: it is a sad day for Michael Moore. Steyn knows how to unload a sweet rant:

"For the past century, Canada's ruling Liberals have been the democratic world's most consistently successful political party. This time round, mired in a series of scandals that were turning Canada into the G7's first Third World kleptocracy, the flailing Trudeaupians adopted an even more ferocious version of their usual strategy: scare the voters back to Nanny. As the Liberals warned Canadians - or, rather, shrieked at them - Stephen Harper will take away "a woman's right to choose"! The unwanted boys you'll be forced to have will grow up to be Bush cannon fodder in Iraq, and the unwanted girls will be sold as white slaves for Halliburton corporate cocktail parties round the pool at Dick Cheney's ranch."

It sounds like Michael Moore knows where to go for his talking points.

18 January 2006

Stanford Progressive: Coherent Policy Needed on Northern Uganda


In a sign that the Northern Uganda crisis is inching toward appearance on news media radar, the student-run, non-partisan Stanford Progressive has published an essay setting forth the issues. The article Ignoring Northern Uganda: A Coherent US Policy? boldly calls for U.S. leadership on the Uganda crisis:

The United States should take the lead in increasing international attention to the conflict and should begin its increased engagement by appointing a senior-level Special Envoy for Northern Uganda who reports directly to Secretary Rice or President Bush. At such a delicate but critical point, an entity with a continuous focus on the conflict, providing ongoing information and analysis, will help to identify the best next steps and to see them through; a high-level appointment will encourage other nations to take similar actions. The Envoy would be able to advise the National Security Council in coordinating the diplomatic and military elements of a solution. Also, appointment of a senior-level Envoy makes an important statement about the United States' commitment to stability, rights and the rule of law in Uganda and in the region more generally, and a statement to the regional governments. (italics added)

This is, after all the responsibility of the U.S. - as agreed to with Britain, amidst all the many crisis challenges in that very neighborhood - a very small area encompassing Uganda, Sudan and Congo, an area that has been called the worst humanitarian situation on the planet. Even the CIA World Factbook, in discussing the Ugandan economy, states "(c)orruption within the government and slippage in the government's determination to press reforms raise doubts about the continuation of strong growth."

It is refreshing to see Uganda under consideration on campuses. No doubt the screenings of Invisible Children on campuses around the country can play a role in this awareness. The Stanford Progressive's call for the appointment of a special envoy, as has been done next door in Darfur, is the least we can do to help Uganda's invisible children:

The appointment of an envoy will demonstrate a commitment from the U.S. government to peace stability and human rights in Uganda while simultaneously allowing for careful consideration of next steps. In a political environment where ineffective humanitarian interventions are harshly criticized, caution in constructing a solution is merited; but in an era of American democracy promotion and condemnation of transnational terrorism, non-engagement in northern Uganda is morally discordant and gives further grounds to accusations of US hypocrisy. (italics added)

In fact, why not simply expand the charge of the U.S. Special Envoy, Ambassador Robert Zoellick, to encompass both Northern Uganda and the related lawlessness in Eastern Congo? Everyone knows I am a unabashed fan of Ambassador Zoellick. He is the right person for the job of connecting the dots which inter-connect crisis points in all three countries.

Needed now are journalists to do the same. It is clear that the ruling oligarchy in Kampala is afraid of the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence. Ingrid Jones of Uganda Watch reports that the crackdown is already underway against journalists in Uganda, part of a continuing pattern we have observed in Uganda for some months now. Canadian journalist Blake Lambert, who writes for The Washington Times, Christian Science Monitor and The Economist - has had his journalist accreditation pulled by the Museveni regime. South Africa television News 24 quotes BBC employee Will Ross saying: "We were told not move beyond a radius of 100 kilometres from Kampala until we had sought clearance from the media centre."

This is a typical attempt at media blackout prior to pulling the dirty tricks necessary to rig an election in Uganda - and has been seen before. As the pre-election tension ramps up, it is time for everyone in Uganda to be mindful of appropriate levels of personal security. When one studies history, it is clear that tyrants - from Josef Stalin to Saddam Hussein - require crisis in order to smokescreen their activities. That lesson has not been lost on tyrants in Africa.

17 January 2006

Ron Christie: Hillary should apologize or resign


Ron Christie
photo: Greater Talent Network

At an event in Harlem honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Senator Hillary Clinton denigrated all Americans with words that go beyond vicious - that sink to the lowest of the low.

Forbes.com quotes her saying that the House "has been run like a plantation, and you know what I'm talking about," said Clinton, D-N.Y. "It has been run in a way so that nobody with a contrary view has had a chance to present legislation, to make an argument, to be heard."

Senator Trent Lott resigned from Republican leadership after apologizing for making a pandering racial remark that was soft by comparison. Former senior White House aide (and author of the new book "Black in the White House") Ron Christie says Hillary should apologize, or resign completely, from the United States Senate.

Speaking on CNN moments ago, Christie stated that likening a branch of our government to a slavery era plantation - where human beings were subjected to systematic brutality and sexual violence, is beyond the pale and should not stand. Just yesterday Christie gave this interview to FrontPage Magazine - an appropriate and fitting tribute to Dr. King which I commend to you in full. Ron Christie is a leader - and as an American who is proud of his African heritage, deserves to be heard. The question is about moral leadership, and whether our country will let stand extremist "race card" politics. Senator Clinton has lowered us all into the muck and mire - exactly what Dr. King raised us out of. That she cannot perceive this fact says something very sad about who she is as a person. But our countenancing such a remark in the name of politics only compounds the damage done to our system of government. Her sentiment is stunning in the callow way she would stoop to such pandering for hopes of raw political gain.

I join in Christie's call for Senator Clinton to publicly apologize to the House of Representatives and the American people for such outrageous remarks - or, absent that, for her resignation. Senator Clinton betrays her true self with these remarks. She is by nature a divider, and a hater. A drumbeat regarding accountability is needed. Get on the GOP Blog and speak out about this, let our leaders know how you feel. We have to counter the liberal mainstream media, who will do their best to ignore this - we have to force them to cover this story - and blogs are the way to do it.

09 January 2006

Ugandan opposition Members of Parliament cleared of murder charges


Reagan Okumu MP (FDC Uganda)
MPs Ocula, Okumu acquitted - Court calls charges "a pack of lies"

by Julian Amutuhaire The Monitor Online

MPs Mike Ocula and Reagan Okumu, held on charges of murder, have been acquitted by the High Court. The two were freed along with another of their co-accused, Steven Otim Oulanya. The three had been accused of murdering Alfred Bongomin, an NRM mobilizer, in 2002.

Delivering his judgement on the matter, Justice John Bosco Katutsi referred to the evidence adduced by the state as "a pack of lies." He consequently ordered the immediate release of the three men.

Urbane Analysis: Opposition presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye has called for an investigation into who brought the charges - and the men have vowed to sue for wrongful prosecution.

A former Lord's Resistance Army officer, meanwhile, has confessed to carrying out the murder.

You've gotta love the judge in this case, who called the government's charges "a crude and amateur attempt at creative work."

It appears that Dr. Besigye now has two more genuine celebrities to join him on the campaign podium in the big push toward the upcoming election, care of the fumbling starmaker machinery at State House - who are so focused on dirty tricks that they cannot see how their mindset has become their undoing. The people of Uganda, judging from the growing support for change there, know better.

08 January 2006

Sir Bob Geldof - The Brave Knight

Last summer I was busy-busy-busy talking up the Live 8 Concert and all the efforts to focus attention on Africa. I even got to sit in on a conference call co-hosted by Powerline's John Hinderaker with political analyst (and former Howard Dean campaign manager) Joe Trippi.

Pretty heady stuff, all told.

And very ecumenical, this coming together of a right wing sink-Senator-Kerry's-chances blogger with a bona fide cable news left wing talking head. All on behalf of Sir Bob Geldof's efforts to keep Africa in the collective consciousness (and conscience) of the average mortgage and car payment-obsessed worker bee in the Northern Hemisphere.


All the while Bob Geldof, excuse me, Sir Geldof was holding court on that conference call - he continually made it clear that he wanted people to come together on this issue. That playing politics, or being afraid of what your friends might think because this work had no partisan edge to it - was simply unacceptable.

My, how well Bono has trained you, I reflected, while listening to Geldof.

Now Geldof's agreement to advise on global poverty issues - British Conservative Party leaders like David Cameron (shown above with his family) demonstrates how seriously Geldof takes this work. Geldof's heart for Africa is so huge, he simply doesn't care about your politics in order to achieve results.

Conservative leader David Cameron feels that Geldof will help the Tories "go in the direction that he and we both want to go."

Cameron and his new leadership group are ecstatic:

"This summer, millions of British people took part in the Make Poverty History campaign. A new generation of concerned citizens want prosperity for themselves and progress for the poor, whether living on the other side of the street or the other side of the world."

It sounds like Cameron has hit his stride.

The global poverty policy group is chaired by former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Lilley. "He (Geldof) has an enormous knowledge and expertise. He's been working on this area for 20 years," Lilley said. "He knows more people, he's got access to more expertise than almost anybody else in the world and that's why I'm thrilled to have him as an advisor to the group".

Geldof, meanwhile, has been feeling the heat from the Left about this decision - but has held firm: "That's my job, to be used so long as I can help steer the policy towards those who are dying. I've said I'll shake hands with the devil on my left and the devil on my right to get to where we need to be."

Geldof may yet feel the devil, through anger from Left Wingers who turn their back on him for doing this.

I know how he feels. It is clear that the Right will work with anyone to make progress on this issue. Conservative Christians are increasingly involved there, and (in a great read), The Economist thinks it knows why:


The teachers and bankers flocking to the megachurches want to spend their political capital on more than just abortion and gay marriage. Second, Christianity has shifted to the developing world. In 1900, 80% of the world's Christians lived in Europe and in America; today, 60% live in the developing world. More Presbyterians go to church in Ghana than in Scotland.



But there is another factor, one which Sir Bob certainly understands. As do correspondents for CNN and the BBC. And it is unassailably clear: George W. Bush has never invaded Africa, nor launched a single cruise missile there. While Bill Clinton invaded Somalia, fired missiles on Sudan - and let Rwanda immolate - Bush has served Africa very well by comparison. His leadership on debt forgiveness was a historic achievement. And Bush Administration pressure on Sudan to ward off genocide in Darfur is textbook in comparison to Madeline Albright's policy on Hutu-Tutsi violence in the 1990's. The Bush Administration has afforded its official representative in Uganda - former Ambassador Jimmy Kolker - extraordinary and completely unprecedented leeway in direct communication, completely over the head of the regime there, straight to the Ugandan people. These are wondrous efforts to promote peace and end conflict. Yet to this day, Clinton is lionized as a hero to Africa - while Bush is pilloried by African regimes parroting BBC-speak.

Nor will hearts be softened from those who disagree. I am passionate about promotion of voices from Africa, through blogging - in efforts to help people in the so-called "developed world" understand what they need from us. And let us be clear: they don't need hand-me-down clothes and other cast offs. Conversely, what we all need is just as important: understanding, engagement, connection and commitment between us (everywhere) as brothers and sisters . It has been said much better: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9

Despite this, there are those who possess the heart for outreach - but cannot for fear of reprisal - make any overture or communication with anyone connected to the world of Bush. Having recently implored (and I will be incredibly nebulous to protect privacy) a person living in Uganda (not from there) to encourage voices from Uganda on behalf of the understanding, engagement, connection and commitment mentioned above. I received this turn-down:

As a general comment here I would like to congratulate you for taking the effort to apply your time and insight to the issues affecting this region of Africa. I am sure very few people outside of this continent read the African press to be aware of the general state of affairs in Uganda and it's neighbours.

Regarding your request to write something about Uganda on a regular basis - I would love to, but cannot believe that by doing so I would not be putting my family at risk in some way, not to mention the organisation I work for and it's employees. I considered writing under a pseudonym and emailing my posts to you so they would not be traceable to my location in Uganda, but I am certain that anyone reading them would in short order narrow the field of possible employers/locations. I thought also about recommending your site to some of my Ugandan friends and colleagues, many of whom would certainly have something to say, but my referral would rightly be interpreted to be my endorsement of your site's political colour - again placing me in the political arena, jeopardising my company and employees.

By similar (perhaps paranoid) reasoning I would rather keep a close mouth about my location, family and work in Uganda, much as it grieves me to respond to your open-handed interest in such poor style.


Now, in defense of this writer - I am a vociferous critic of the Ugandan regime and would be doggedly trailed anytime I were to touch down at Entebbe - and in light of the allegations of genocide against the Museveni regime from Olara A. Otunnu, the former UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, the regime is more than a little bit touchy. Given the nature of the Ugandan police state - the writer has every reason to be careful. But look at what motivates me: Christian faith, and conservative political action.

Some things are just too hot to handle.

07 January 2006

Another page from the Museveni playbook




It is time to wake up about what is going on in Uganda. Prior to the last presidential election, suddenly there were shadowy groups causing unrest in the capital city - and bombs were being thrown from boda-boda's in the city - something totally unique which had rarely happened before or since. But the government "knew" who did it - and made it quite clear that more unrest would occur if the status quo were not maintained. Below you will find a January 2001 report from CNN.com that gives the facts related to these "attacks" - but given the way CNN has created a major conflict of interest regarding their coverage of issues in Uganda - it will be the responsibility of new media bloggers to connect the dots regarding what motivates unrest in Uganda. Or to put it quite plainly: no one is going to fall for the "shadowy splinter group" spin if bombs are (once again) going off in Kampala just in time for this year's election. Because all eyes are on State House, President Yoweri Museveni, and his tactics. Expect to hear more about the Allied Democratic Forces as the election draws closer - what we need now is balance, and for news media to cover the real story about what is going on between Uganda and the situation in the Congo. Because it too points back at Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Uganda blasts injure six
January 29, 2001 Web posted at: 5:45 AM EST (1045 GMT)
KAMPALA, Uganda (Reuters) -- Six people were injured in three separate bomb attacks in the Ugandan capital Kampala, a police spokesman said.
"The bombs went off nearly at the same time, at about 8 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Sunday," police spokesman Asuman Mugenyi said.
"All we know right now is that they were home-made devices."
The first two bombs went off near the city's main bus terminus while a third exploded in a southern suburb.
Among those injured were two drivers of motorcycle taxis who were hired unknowingly to transport the bombers, police said.
The bomb attacks were the first in Kampala since October when unknown assailants threw a grenade into a market killing one woman.
In 1999 at least 11 people were killed and 73 injured in a spate of bombings in Kampala which security officials blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group.
The ADF, which has bases in the Rwenzori mountains of western Uganda and across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been fighting the government of President Yoweri Museveni since 1996.
Museveni is the front runner in presidential elections scheduled for March 6.
Mugenyi said police had no information about who carried out Sunday's attacks.
Reuters contributed to this report.

Let's get this straight...


I recently received an e-mail saying that it was people like me who are causing the unrest in Uganda. That I was responsible (in part) for the growing unrest in Uganda.

Hey, I will stand up and take responsbility for anything I have said. But let us be clear, it is the government of Uganda which has created the conditions there. But don't take my word for it, read (if you dare, this is sick, graphic stuff) this report from Human Rights Watch and learn for yourself. Here is the backgrounder:

Patterns and cases of torture

In Uganda, government authorities frequently employ torture against government opponents, ordinary civilians accused of supporting rebel groups, as well as suspected common criminals. Members of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) and civilians in northern Uganda in particular have often become victims of torture and ill-treatment.
Victims have been severely beaten with rifle butts, sticks, electric cables and other objects. Other methods of torture include tying the hands and feet behind the victim (“kandoya”), keeping detainees in pits in the ground; exposing the victim with mouth open to a water spigot, and inflicting injury to the penis and testicles. Withholding or denying necessary medical attention has resulted in more severe, even permanent, injury.
Human Rights Watch and FHRI have described a pattern of torture and ill-treatment in Uganda in previous publications.1 As of March 2005, torture and ill-treatment continued in Uganda, as documented in this submission.
There is a confusing array of security organs in Uganda that have detained and tortured suspects. In many cases agents carrying out the arrest wear civilian clothes with no identifying insignia. Under Ugandan law, only the police are authorized to routinely arrest and investigate crimes, and the only authorized places of detention for civilians are police and sometimes prison facilities. Among the agencies against which credible allegations of torture have been made are the following:
- the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Force (UPDF) and its military intelligence branch, Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI)
- Internal Security Organization (ISO) and its District Security Organizations (DISO)
- Joint Anti Terrorism Task Force (JAT), a joint body of CMI, ISO and other security agencies
- Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU), a special unit comprised of CMI, ISO, and other security agencies, replacing Operation Wembley, tasked with stopping common crime
- the police and its Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
The most serious abuses seem to occur when suspects are arrested and held by the army and its intelligence service, the CMI, as well as JAT and the VCCU. The regular police – i.e. police with no special military or security brief – have a slightly better record and do not seem to torture suspects as a matter of course. However, the regular police and other security agencies have also committed acts of torture and ill-treatment.
When suspects – such as political opponents or alleged ‘rebels’ – are held by the army, CMI, JAT or VCCU, they are often held in “ungazetted” or unauthorized places of detention or “safe houses”, where torture can and does take place without any observers. The government has repeatedly denied the existence of safe houses. In a meeting with Human Rights Watch on April 14, 2005, Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi stated that there are safe houses which are used by security services to do their intelligence work. He conceded that suspects may be interrogated in safe houses but denied that people are detained there.2 However, field research by Human Rights Watch and FHRI has found that detainees were frequently detained in safe houses for days, weeks, and months at a time. For example, civilians have been and continue to be held at an unauthorized JAT detention centre in the Kololo neighborhood of Kampala and at other safe houses. Civilians are also often held for prolonged periods in army barracks in different parts of the country, especially the north and west, although by law the army is allowed to carry out arrests only in emergency situations and should promptly transfer the suspect to police custody. On some occasions in recent years, the security agencies and CMI have transferred detainees for the night in a police station and kept them all day at a safe house where the interrogation and torture takes place. This may be an effort to create a veneer of legality.
Human Rights Watch and FHRI have also found that the army, CMI, JAT and VCCU torture or ill-treat suspects frequently. As illustrated below, suspects are often detained by one of these agencies incommunicado in a safe house or barracks, and tortured or ill-treated to make a confession or to punish them for refusing to confess. Later, they are taken to a police station where they often suffer less abuse, and where the confession is taken again, sometimes in front of those who conducted the torture. Suspects are then charged by the police and produced in the Magistrate’s Court and judicially charged with treason or terrorism.
Under the Ugandan constitution, treason and terrorism suspects can be detained for 360 days without trial and without bail. In many cases charges are dropped when the suspects are released on bail after the 360 days. In other cases, defendants seek amnesty for treason or terrorism, which requires a confession of guilt. The defendants sometimes seek amnesty because of the extreme slowness of the judicial system and the protracted time they must await trial.
Human rights observers have been denied access to unofficial places of detention. While the government readily allows independent observers to visit regular prisons and police stations, it is very difficult to get access to military barracks, CMI facilities, and other “ungazetted” and thus illegal places of detention such as the JAT detention facility in Kololo, Kampala, where many victims claim to have been tortured. During a recent visit to Uganda, Human Rights Watch was denied access by army officials to the military barracks in Gulu and Makindye to interview detainees in private.3 Human Rights Watch was offered the opportunity to interview detainees in front of their guards, but decided not to do so as this is not conducive to an open discussion with the detainee.

Torture of alleged common criminals by the VCCU

Suspected common criminals are frequently tortured, in particular when they are detained by the VCCU. The VCCU is the successor of Operation Wembley, which was tasked with cracking down on crime in Kampala starting in 2002. Many victims interviewed reported that they had been severely beaten and were still suffering the results.
In December 2003, Michael K., a forty-year-old man traveling by car from Masaka to Kampala was stopped by VCCU officers and told, “Black should come out.” (Black was a notorious robber; this man denied that he was Black.) He was held at VCCU headquarters in Kireka, to the eastern edge of Kampala, for three weeks and then transferred to the Central Police Station in Kampala. He related that during his detention at VCCU, he was beaten with batons, wires, and sticks on the back, chest, knees and ankles. The torture resulted in swollen and deformed knees and many scars on his ankles.4
Brian L., a thirty-two-year-old man from Luwero, was arrested in January 2004 and accused of stealing a motorcycle. He was arrested by four plainclothed men in a white car, who immediately beat him to extract information about the stolen motorcycle. According to the man, his captors hit the back of his knees, his ankles and genitals. This caused the victim to become incontinent. Brian L.’s itinerary shows how many agencies can be involved in a case, even when it concerns a minor crime: He was held briefly at CMI offices in Kitante, Kampala, then at Luwero police station, then at the VCCU headquarters and then at the Central Police Station in Kampala.5
In April 2004, Ben T., a car washer in Kampala was arrested on allegations of car theft. According to Ben T., he was first brought to Central Police Station in Kampala where he spent five days. As he was about to be released on police bond, the police Criminal Investigations Department objected. He was then taken to VCCU headquarters, Kireka, Kampala, where he spent eight days. He was beaten with a baton and electric wires after his hands were tied around his legs. Ben T. had swollen legs and could not move his legs as a result of the beatings. When he was brought back to the police station he sought medical attention but was only given a pain killer. As a result of the torture, Ben T. had difficulty walking. He was released in June 2004.6
In some cases, suspects were not only beaten, but subjected to other types of torture. In November 2003, John W., a twenty-two-year-old man from Mengo, Kampala, was eating lunch when VCCU officers came to arrest the person sitting next to him. He told a FHRI researcher that he asked where they were taking the man, which angered the officers so that they arrested him as well. During his one week detention at VCCU headquarters, he had his right small finger chopped off by a VCCU officer. VCCU agents also beat him with wire on the chest, and he still has scars from the beatings. Later John W. was transferred to the Central Police Station in Kampala, where he had been held for four months at the time of the interview.7
In early May 2004, Martin O., a twenty-seven-year-old man was arrested in Kampala by security agents, most likely CMI agents. He said the agents beat him with metallic bars around the knees and toes while asking about a motorcycle that had allegedly been stolen. Martin O. was taken to the JAT safe house in Kololo and later taken to CMI offices on Kitante Road, Kampala. During interrogations, those detaining him threatened to squeeze his genitals so hard that he would never have children. They further threatened to beat him if he did not confess to having stolen that motorcycle.8
Owino New taxi Park, Kafumbe Mukasa Road, Rubaga Church , Muzaana , Lungujja, Na

Torture of political opponents

Political opponents have frequently been threatened, arrested, detained, ill-treated and tortured. Particularly targeted are those who supported Kiiza Besigye in the 2001 presidential election, and who subsequently formed a political group called Reform Agenda. Besigye was President Museveni’s strongest opponent in that election and fled the country in 2001 after harassment. In 2004 Reform Agenda merged with other groups to form what is now a registered political party, the FDC.9
Security agencies claim that members of Reform Agenda – now in the FDC – are actively involved with the People’s Redemption Army (PRA). The PRA is a rebel group based in the Ituri district of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.10 While dozens of political opponents and others have been arrested in connection with the PRA, no criminal trial has shown the link between the PRA and Reform Agenda or the FDC. Many observers believe that it poses little threat to security, law and order. Others have questioned the existence of the PRA because it has not conducted military operations inside Uganda. Some detainees have “confessed” PRA links to the press while in military custody and later said these confessions were made under duress. These detainees have been charged with treason or terrorism and detained for prolonged periods. A few have been amnestied and released.
Patrick Biryomumeisho, a Besigye campaigner and an elected official (LC-3) in Kabale district, southwestern Uganda, was arrested on May 2, 2003 and taken to an illegal detention centre run by CMI in Kampala where he was held for several months. He was accused of supporting Besigye and the PRA. According to Biryomumeisho, he was tortured during his detention at the CMI detention centre. CMI agents beat him with an iron bar and other instruments, and kicked him, injuring the testicles, left clavicle, and right back shoulder. They also hit his big toe with a hammer, causing the nail to fall off after several weeks. He had a red chemical substance poured into his eyes that made him blind for several weeks and impaired his vision for months afterwards. In July 2003 he was charged and sent to Kigo Prison. When Biryomumeisho’s detention exceeded the legal limit of 360 days, and after his lawyer brought a habeas corpus, he was released on August 2, 2004. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) then withdrew the case against him. He has filed a civil suit before the Uganda Human Rights Commission, seeking damages for torture.11
On January 12, 2003, security officials arrested Pascal Gakyaro, a retired civil aviation engineer and supporter of Reform Agenda. He was held in unofficial places of detention for eight days and beaten during that period. On January 20, 2003, after the intervention of an MP and a High Court order, Gakyaro was charged with treason before the High Court. He was released on bail in July 2003, but re-arrested and only released in January 2005. The charges against him were dropped.12 Pascal Gakyaro sought legal action, and on June 2004, the High Court ordered the government to pay thirty million Ugandan Shillings (about U.S. $ 17,000) compensation for unlawful arrest, detention and torture. However the damages have not been paid yet.13
In January 2003, Francisco Ogwang Olebe, a Reform Agenda activist, was detained and tortured in a CMI safe house. His neck was dislocated as a result of the torture. He was charged with treason along with four others. After he was released on bail, he brought legal action in 2004 against the Attorney General for his torture and illegal detention. The High Court ruled in his favor, as the Attorney General did not appear, and awarded him eighty million Ugandan Shillings (about U.S. $ 45,000) as compensation. His bail was revoked on January 17, 2005, on the grounds that the case was ready for trial, and he was detained again. By March 2005, Francisco Ogwang Olebe was still in Luzira prison awaiting trial. The award of damages has not been paid by the Ugandan government.14
There have been a number of arrests of government opponents in late 2004 and early 2005. Among them were FDC officials as well as many other less prominent political figures. Those arrested in early 2005 and held on terrorism or treason charges are likely to be unable to campaign during or participate in the March 2006 presidential elections, unless they are tried unusually fast.15 As the testimonies below indicate, there is a risk that political opponents are held on treason charges merely with the aim of punishing them and instilling fear.
On November 24, 2004, soldiers arrested Steven K., a businessman and known government critic in Koboko town, Arua district in northwestern Uganda. They accused him of being a rebel and illegally possessing guns. According to the victim, he was carrying out a government-managed demobilization process with members of a former rebel group and had been authorized to buy back arms in that context. The soldiers tied his hands and legs together behind his back (“kandoya”) and cut him with a bayonet. He was held for one day in a pit at Koboko army barracks. After eight days of detention in Arua barracks where he had to suffer further abuse, he was transferred to the JAT safe house in Kololo, Kampala. Steven K. was again accused of being a rebel. They tied a stone to his penis with a short rope while he was in a squatting position, then forced him to jump in the air. He was forced to stand under a tap which jetted out water onto his head at such high pressure that he fainted several times and was eventually taken for treatment. At the time of this writing he was being held on treason charges in Luzira Prison. Steven K. told researchers that he saw other detainees in Kololo who were tortured “worse than me” and “who could not move”.16
In December 2004, Robert M., a leading member of the FDC, was arrested by CMI agents at Makerere University in Kampala. He told a Human Rights Watch researcher that he was accused of having links with the PRA rebel group and told, “We are going to throw you into Luzira for a year. We shall see whether you shall not reduce that noise. You are on treason.” Robert M. was detained for three days at the JAT safe house in Kololo where his torturers stripped him naked, severely beat him, mutilated his penis with a razor blade, and threatened to kill him. Following his ordeal he was taken to the Criminal Investigations Department where he signed a statement under duress; he did not know the contents. He was being held on treason charges at Luzira Prison at the time of this writing.17
In late January 2005, Godfrey G., an opposition politician was arrested by ISO officials and held by CMI at the army barracks in Arua for almost two weeks. He was accused of planning “military activities” with Kiiza Besigye. According to his testimony, he was kicked and beaten badly, and he had a weight tied with a short rope to his testicles and penis while he was squatting; he was then forced to lift up, which was so painful that he declared he would rather be killed. Godfrey G. also had several liters of dirty water poured down his nose and mouth, the “Liverpool” treatment. The man was then taken to the JAT safe house in Kololo where he was beaten very severely on the chest, causing him to collapse. After almost two weeks, he was sent to court to be charged. As of the writing of this report, he was held at Luzira Prison and is charged with involvement in the PRA.18
High-profile politicians are not exempt from ill-treatment. On November 22, 2004, soldiers of the Ugandan People’s Defence Force beat three members of parliament in Acholi Bur, Pader district, northern Uganda, as they arrived to have a meeting with residents to discuss the government’s White Paper on the constitution. The victims, some of whom had wounds from the beatings, were Ministers of Parliament (MPs) Odonga Otto, Prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo, Michael Nyeko Ocula and their drivers. Odonga Otto had swollen arms and legs, Prof. Latigon suffered from head injuries and Michael Nyeko Ocula had swelling on the head and back.19
In November 2004, Reform Agenda’s Secretary for Information and Publicity, Dennis Savimbi Muhumuza, was reportedly caned sixty-five times by an intelligence officer because he was distributing Reform Agenda magazines and campaigning for the group without police permission. According to an FDC spokesperson he was also held at gunpoint, kicked and beaten.20
Torture of alleged rebels in northern Uganda
Northern Uganda has been wracked by armed conflict between the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government UPDF army over the last eighteen years. The LRA has committed gross human rights violations against civilians, such as massacres, sexual slavery, abduction of children, mutilation and torture. Some of the crimes committed by the LRA amount to crimes against humanity.21 In 2005, LRA rebels continued to commit abuses against civilians in northern Uganda. For example, Human Rights Watch interviewed several women whose lips were cut off by the LRA because the women were allegedly talking to government soldiers.22
While not on the same scale as the LRA, government forces in northern Uganda have also committed abuses against civilians, including torture. In some areas, the majority of the civilians live in camps for internally displaced persons. The camps are controlled by the army. Civilians in the camps are often accused of being “rebel collaborators” and then ill-treated or tortured. This happens frequently in certain areas when civilians breach the curfew, even if by only a few minutes. The local military battalion imposes a curfew on the civilian population; it sets a time by which they have to return to the internally displaced persons camp, and another time by which they have to be inside their huts. Beating of civilians by soldiers outside of the camps is prevalent in northern Uganda. In some cases civilians have been beaten even when they returned before the curfew has begun. Civilians also are beaten up regularly by soldiers for being out of their huts at night, although they are inside the camp. These abuses are occurring most frequently in two camps, Cwero and Awac in Gulu District, where the 11th Battalion is stationed. Although many have complained about this situation, as of late March 2005 no corrective action had been taken.
On February 17, 2005, Patrick W., a farmer near Cwero camp was arrested by soldiers. He had gone back to his old home outside the camp and built a fire break line around his house to protect his fruit trees, so that he could provide his family food to supplement the skimpy rations in the camp. The soldiers accused him of working for the rebels, caned him, and tied a rope around his testicles and pulled on it. Patrick W. fainted and was taken to nearby Cwero army barracks. He was released the next day and told never to go back to his home.23
Odang Binoni, in his seventies, was beaten to death by soldiers on February 19, 2005 in Cwero camp, Gulu district. He was out late at a funeral – funeral wakes usually continue the whole night – and was hence breaching the curfew rules. He had gone to the latrine, and when he returned, a soldier hit him with the butt of his rifle several times in the chest until the old man fell to the ground. Then several soldiers told the mourners to leave. Odang Binoni died shortly after of his injuries.24
In other cases, the army arrests and detains people accused of links with the LRA. Soldiers, similar to other security and intelligence officials, seem to use ill-treatment and torture as methods of interrogation; questions would be asked during the beatings about the suspects’ links with the rebel LRA. In several cases victims have been detained in a pit within the barracks.
For example, in August 2003, Bob O., Charles B., James K. and Lucius O. were arrested by the army at Paicor camp as alleged rebel collaborators and taken to Paicor military barracks, Gulu district, where they were held in a deep, mud-filled pit. They were tied back to back to each other until the next morning. Afterwards, they were detained in a storage building close to the Acholi Inn in Gulu, where they were interrogated about LRA links, and severely beaten with sticks in front of the Military Intelligence Coordinator for northern Uganda, Col. Charles Otema, a senior commander. The following day the four men were transferred to the police, and shortly after they were charged with treason and transferred to Gulu Central Prison. After one year, they were released on bail; the charges are still pending.25
On April 2004, Theodor O. was arrested at Paicor camp on accusations of being a rebel and owing a gun. During the five days of his detention at Paicor military barracks, he was held for one day in a pit. During this time he witnessed severe abuses against other detainees:
There were other people in the pit who were … taken out of the pit and beaten individually. The way the pit was constructed it had roofing you could peep through. I saw people beaten on the buttocks, beaten strictly on the buttocks until the stick was broken, until the buttocks were so swollen the person couldn’t sit. I wasn’t beaten but was tied up with rubber – it has ruined the circulation in my veins in my arms.26
In February 2005, Julius L. was arrested at Pabbo camp, Gulu district, on accusations of collaborating with the LRA and boasting about being a relative of Vincent Otti, a senior LRA leader. He was taken to Olwal military barracks and then forced to go out with soldiers to “show where the rebels were”. At one point the soldiers stopped and hit Julius L. severely on the head, put a rope around his neck, sat on him and started strangling him. He fainted but survived, and eventually made it back to his camp. He continues to have body pain and feel very weak, and has a fracture in the waist.27
[1] See for example Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, The Bi-Annual Human Rights Reporter 2004, Kampala, Uganda; Human Rights Watch: State of Pain. Torture in Uganda (New York, March 2004).
[2] Human Rights Watch meeting with Amama Mbabazi, Minister of Defence, Sam Kutesa, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Moses Byaruhanga, Secretary of the President. London, April 14, 2005.
[3] Human Rights Watch was told that it could interview the detainees only in the presence of army officials. Human Rights Watch conducted interviews of officers in Gulu barracks and in April 2004 visited the waiting area of Makindye barracks, only to be refused permission to see any detainees or prisoners at all.
[4] FHRI interview with Michael K. at Kampala Central Police Station, May 27, 2004.
[5] FHRI interview with Brian L. at Kampala Central Police Station, May 27, 2004.
[6] FHRI interview with Ben T. at Kampala Central Police Station, May 27, 2004, and after release in Kampala, June 2004.
[7] FHRI interview with John W. at Kampala Central Police Station, May 27, 2004.
[8] FHRI interview with Martin O. at Kampala Central Police Station, May 27, 2004.
[9] FDC brought together Reform Agenda and several other political groups. Reform Agenda is now part of the FDC and does not exist any more as a separate group.
[10] The PRA has at times fought with other armed groups in eastern DRC, such as the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC).
[11] Human Rights Watch interview with Patrick Biryomumeisho, Kampala, March 18, 2005. Patrick Biryomumeisho is his real name.
[12] FHRI interview with Pascal Gakyaro, Kigo prison, March 2003. See also press reports: “Three PRA suspects cleared,” New Vision, January 18, 2005; “I was arrested over a woman, says Gakyaro,” New Vision, January 20, 2005. Pascal Gakyaro is his real name.
[13] “Shame that We Pay Millions for Torture,” Monitor, June 18, 2004.
[14] Human Rights Watch interviews with Francisco Ogwang Olebe, Luzira Prison, June 13, 2003, and March 19, 2005.
[15] The Uganda Constitution forbids bail or bond for 360 days after charges are brought in court in capital cases, which include treason and terrorism.
[16] Human Rights Watch interview with Steven K., Luzira Prison, March 19, 2005.
[17] Human Rights Watch interview with Robert M., Luzira Prison, March 19, 2005.
[18] Human Rights Watch interview with Godfrey G., Luzira Prison, March 19, 2005.
[19] Human Rights Watch interview with witness, Kampala, March 3 and March 9, 2005. The names of the MPs are their real names.
[20] “FDC appeals to Amama over torture of supporter,” New Vision, November 12, 2004. Dennis Savimbi Muhumuza is his real name.
[21] See Human Rights Watch, Abducted and Abused. Renewed War in Northern Uganda (New York, July 2003); Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, The Bi-Annual Human Rights Reporter 2004, Kampala, Uganda.
[22] Human Rights Watch interview with victims, Kitgum Hospital, Kitgum, Uganda, March 2, 2005.
[23] Human Rights Watch interview with Patrick W., Cwero camp, Gulu District, Uganda, February 26, 2005.
[24] Human Rights Watch interview with relative of Odang Binoni, Cwero camp, February 26, 2005. Odang Binoni was his real name.
[25] Human Rights Watch interviews with Bob O. and Charles B., Paicor camp, Gulu District, February 27, 2005.
[26] Human Rights Watch interview with Theodor O., Paicor camp, February 27, 2005.
[27] Human Rights Watch interview with Julius L., Pabbo camp, February 25, 2005.

06 January 2006

More warnings of civil war for Uganda



American NGO predicts instability in 2006

by Kakaire A. Kirunda The Daily Monitor Uganda

UGANDA is set for civil turmoil as next month's election is seen to be tainted, a United States based NGO, Power and Interest News Report (PINR) has said.

Based in Chicago, PINR is an independent organisation that utilises open source intelligence to provide conflict analysis in the context of international relations. PINR's forecast is contained in a report titled 'Uganda: Museveni on the Ropes, Instability Ahead' that was released yesterday.

The report said, "With early polls showing Besigye with substantial lead over Museveni in Uganda's major towns, the state is set for civil disorder as the election is seen to be tainted."

The report, which heavily emphasises that President Yoweri Museveni's grip on power is failing, bases its assertions on recent political developments that led to foreign aid cuts. It also cites the desertion of Museveni by his former colleagues and loss of confidence before the donors.

The report said as the Besigye affair unfolded, Uganda was hit by the International Court of Justice's ( ICJ) judgment that Museveni's invasion of the DR Congo and occupation of Ituri violated the norms of non-use of force and non-intervention. The ICJ further ruled that Uganda's invasion led to numerous violations of international law (burning villages, recruiting child soldiers, looting and appropriating natural resources, among others), and owed the DRC reparations."

With a debt of $4 billion and yearly revenue collection at $700 million, Uganda would be crippled by a reparation payment anywhere near the DRC's demands," the report reads. It adds: "He (Museveni) also faces a continuing insurgency in the north from the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, which he has not been able to quell and rising unemployment and poverty rates." However, in the same analysis, PINR said there was no reason to believe that the opposition would be able to heal Uganda's divisions if it won the presidency and a parliamentary majority.

This, according to PINR, leaves few donor countries promising alternatives as a slide toward instability gains momentum.

“With similar scenarios unfolding in Kenya and Zanzibar, East Africa appears to be poised for a period of civil conflict,” the report sums up.

Urbane Analysis: See this report from May 2005 where the World Bank makes a very similar prediction - and don't miss this touchstone 1999 report where the World Bank illustrates how official corruption created this problem. Citizens of donor countries simply have to insist that their governments stop toadying to corrupt governments in developing countries - and similarly insist that their governments prosecute its citizens (and corporations) which engage in bribery overseas. Unless and until we do that, our money is punishing the very people (the poor) we most want to help.

04 January 2006

Blake Lambert asks the big question about Uganda




'What kind of democracy is this?'

By csmonitor.com staff
Blake Lambert – Correspondent
The Christian Science Monitor
photo: Uganda Watch

A percussive chant filled my ears as I edged toward the swarm of Ugandans on Kampala Road, the unavoidable path of all political demonstrations in Uganda's capital, Kampala.

"Besigye, candidate," they jubilantly shouted and danced.

A few ecstatic souls even laid a poster of Kizza Besigye, presidential candidate for the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), on the not-so-clean street and kissed it.

Dozens of police, including some in riot gear, and red-capped military police eyed the crowd suspiciously.

After weeks of legal wrangling between civilian and military courts since his Nov. 14 arrest for treason, Mr. Besigye, who presents the most credible challenge to President Yoweri Museveni in the Feb. 23 presidential election, had gained his freedom on bail.

Thousands of Ugandans wanted to show Besigye their support.

"If we didn't love Besigye, we wouldn't even be here," John Bosco Omara, a self-employed printer.

He complained about too much corruption, sectarianism, poverty, and Museveni's failure to stop the Lord's Resistance Army, a brutal rebel group in northern Uganda.

The riot squad stood maybe 15 feet from where we talked.

A few minutes earlier, I watched one of its members threaten someone who was handing out water to demonstrators who had been tear-gassed so they could wash their eyes.

"You give them more water. You will see what will happen," the policeman snapped.

That blue-tinged tear gas, fired from a mobile cannon, carries a fierce sting, far worse than any variety I'd encountered before in Kampala.

I too needed water to clear my eyes.

Oddly, getting hosed down by the water cannon, as also happened to demonstrators and observers, seemed, to me, to be more benign.

As I walked along the street with Ugandan colleagues, I saw a military policeman use a wooden baton to beat a demonstrator.

It all seemed a bit harsh given that the celebratory crowd didn't appear to pose a threat to anyone either.

At one point, I swiveled my head and watched endless waves of people moving along Kampala Road.

Even when Besigye finally emerged from the High Court sitting atop a car and flashing his two-fingered victory salute, supporters wanted to follow their man back to FDC headquarters.

From 1986 to 1996, one of them told me, crowds of this size would meet Museveni wherever he went and whomever he was with.

A decade later, a growing number of Ugandans wonder why their president doesn't seem ready to emulate his colleagues in East Africa and leave power peacefully, as Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania has done.

No amount of tear gas or water can erase the doubts about Museveni, but using them often seems to increase public anger.

"Museveni says he has democracy," Julius Otema, an electrician, remarked. "What kind of democracy is this?"

Many Ugandans and Western countries, which have lavished aid on Museveni's government, seem to be asking themselves the same question.

And, if Britain's decision last month to cut $26.5 million in aid to Uganda due to concerns over Besigye's arrest is any indication, some donor countries may have decided the answer.

Urbane Analysis: If we humans have learned nothing from Rwanda in 1994, it is that our media - both print and television - should (right now!) be shining the light of reports from excellent Ugandan journalists like Blake Lambert and Andrew Mwenda all over the globe. Here in America, these two should be booked as commentators on FOX News, National Public Radio, Meet the Press, Today - you name it. The one person who can kick this into motion - can do so with one hour of her time.

Okay Oprah?

Journalists HAVE to do what armies can NEVER do - and that is: bring truth to bear against insidious attempts by tyrants to manipulate. We can potentially save a lot of lives in Uganda, and bring democracy to a whole new level - if the news media would stop it with the laissez faire cynicism about whats going on in Uganda, Sudan and the Congo. If they REALLY looked, it would be easy to see that it all comes back around to a master manipulator by the name of Yoweri Museveni.

O'Reilly's enjoyable night out on Letterman



Maybe one reason liberals are so afraid of Bill O'Reilly is that he genuinely enjoys them. Liberals, meanwhile, can't stand the fact that O'Reilly confounds their stereotypes and is (among other things) outspoken against the death penalty - or makes it clear that while abortion should be safe and legal, it is moral murder.

Liberals will make a lot of hay about Letterman's passive-aggressive crack: "I have the feeling that about 60 percent of what you say is crap." (video here.) But they won't say a word about Letterman's earlier admission regarding O'Reilly's desire to talk about the war on terror: "I'm not smart enough to debate you point to point on this."

Indeed. On the other hand, this is what O'Reilly said about Letterman all the way back in 2001:

The late-night program hosted by David Letterman is the toughest interview show on television. That's because Mr. Letterman is a smart guy who can spot a phony with telescopic accuracy and expects his guests to bring something to the table. If a guest begins to sink on this show, the bottom is a long way down.

Nothing passive-aggressive about that. Or O'Reilly's most recent appearance on The Late Show. Here's how Newsmax called it:

Letterman seemed to turn downright hostile, however, after O'Reilly defended U.S. soldiers and attacked Cindy Sheehan. "The United States, particularly the military, is doing a noble thing - the soldiers and Marines are noble," the Fox host insisted. "They're not terrorists. And when people call them that, like Cindy Sheehan called the insurgents 'freedom fighters,' we don't like that. It is a vitally important time in American history and we should be very careful of what we say." The comment prompted Letterman to admonish O'Reilly, "Then you should be very careful about what you say, also . . . I'm very concerned about people like yourself who don't have endless sympathy for a woman like Cindy Sheehan. Honest to Christ, honest to Christ."

The fear, as they say, is palpable. Not to worry Letterman, I'd be happy to debate "point to point" with you about the war on terror. Have your people call my people.