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By Will Ross
BBC, Kampala, Uganda
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![Uganda troops]()
The Ugandan president has admitted the army is not
made up of
angels |
The
Ugandan army has been accused of carrying out severe human rights abuses
on the civilian population in the north of the country.
A report by a group of human rights organisations says the atrocities
of the rebels of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) on the civilian
population are well documented.
But it says the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and officials of
other government-related military security agencies have committed
multiple abuses including summary execution, torture, rape and child
recruitment.
The report - entitled "Abducted and Abused: Renewed Conflict in
Northern Uganda" - paints a grim picture of the lives of civilians in
northern Uganda.
"There are two
young girls, one 12 years old and the other 17, who were returning from
the garden and they found soldiers who intercepted and raped them," says
Samuel Tindifa, the director of the human rights and peace centre at
Makerere University, which contributed to the report.
"Both girls were tested for HIV and the result was positive".
The report concludes that the presence of Ugandan soldiers has
increased the HIV-Aids infection rate in the north of the country.
Data proves that while in general Uganda has taken great strides in
tackling the Aids pandemic, with government claiming the HIV infection
rate is around 6%, in northern Uganda the rates are higher.
When I visited Kitgum District hospital recently I learnt that 9% of
pregnant mothers are HIV-positive, while 29% of people who voluntarily
get tested are HIV-positive.
'Torture rampant'
The report also alleges that, often against their will, former LRA
child soldiers are recruited into the Ugandan army.
It cites an example of one boy who was badly tortured under
interrogation by the Ugandan army about his LRA activities.
The report says when asked if he wanted to join the army he was
threatened: "If not you will stay in this prison forever."
The
report also claims the UPDF arrests civilians on suspicion of rebel
collaboration with little or no evidence and alleges the torture and ill
treatment of suspects has been rampant.
In response to the report, the Ugandan army spokesman, Major Shaban
Bantariza, commented: "I am not saying that no Ugandan soldier can kill
a civilian."
But he called on human rights organisations to come up with detailed
allegations that can then be followed up rather than accusations which
he described as "rain in the desert".
'Hidden agenda'
The army spokesman accused the New York-based Human Rights Watch of
relying on information from organisations and individuals whose
reliability and credibility are questionable.
He accused Human Rights Focus, an organisation based in the northern
Ugandan town of Gulu, of having a hidden agenda and not reflecting the
real situation on the ground.
Jeffrey Scott, of Human
Rights Watch, defended his organisation's method of research.
"Our information is very carefully gathered based on first hand
information that is very carefully cross checked and collaborated and,
frankly, it does not come as a surprise that the government would
dismiss it as impartial information," says Mr Scott.
This is not the first time the Ugandan army has come under heavy
criticism for its behaviour.
The Ugandan president has admitted that the army is not entirely made
up of angels.
But the report challenges the government to investigate these claims
and to improve its human rights record.
What this report underlines is the multiple suffering that the
civilian population is facing during this war and the urgent need to end
it.
