--- musamize <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Regime of tyranny and torture back to haunt Uganda > By Adrian Blomfield in Kampala > (Filed: 19/03/2005), The Daily Telegraph, London > > Suspected dissidents disappear after midnight visits > to their homes; chilling screams can again be heard > from Idi Amin's infamous torture chambers, reopened > after a quarter of a century of disuse. From the few > that escape come tales of punishment beatings and > even mass executions. > > Welcome to President Yoweri Museveni's Uganda. One > of Britain's favourite African states in recent > years has, almost unnoticed in the West, become a > sinister land where a corrupt regime uses its secret > police to rule through fear. > > The reasons for this transition are not hard to > fathom. Mr Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986, > when his rebels marched triumphantly into the > capital Kampala. Many of his countrymen believe he > now wants to recast himself as that most African of > leaders: a president for life. > > Signalling his intent to jettison the vestigial > trappings of democracy his government still > professes, Mr Museveni has set out to remove a > constitutional provision that prevents him from > standing in elections next year. > > Not all Ugandans are keen on the idea, but the > government has ways of making them change their > mind. > > Last year, Yasin, a taxi driver who occasionally > chauffeured a senior opposition official around the > countryside, was woken by a loud rapping at his door > a few hours before dawn. The men who had come to > arrest him were not policemen, but members of the > widely feared Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence > (CMI). > > Yasin knew that the CMI, a shadowy spy agency > directly answerable to the president, had no powers > to arrest anybody. But he also knew better than to > question his captors. > > He was taken to Makindye barracks, where some of the > worst atrocities of Amin's infamous State Research > Bureau, which used to force inmates to beat each > other to death with sledgehammers, took place in the > 1970s. > > "Every day for a week, they would hang me upside > down and beat me with clubs," Yasin said. "They > wanted to know names of people working for the > opposition. I kept saying I didn't know any, but > they wouldn't believe me." On his third day, Yasin > watched as a fellow inmate, an elderly man accused > of recruiting for the main opposition alliance, the > Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), was killed using > a method known as "Liverpool". The victim's head was > placed in a bag that was repeatedly filled with > water. To breathe, he had to drink it all, but the > more he drank, the more bloated his belly became > until his innards ruptured and he died in a pool of > his own urine. > > The official existence of political parties was only > allowed last year, under considerable western > pressure. Until then Mr Museveni operated what he > called a no-party system, in which every Ugandan > belonged to an entity known as The Movement, which > was headed by the president. > > In theory, the philosophy was supposed to rid Uganda > of the ethnic and political divisions that helped > cause the civil wars and dictatorships that > characterised much of the country's history since > independence from Britain in 1962. In practice it > has allowed Mr Museveni to exert total control over > most of his people. > > The leader of the FDC, Kizza Besigye, in exile in > South Africa, has instructed his campaigners to dole > out copies of Animal Farm during party rallies. > > But most people are too frightened to attend. Secret > police infiltrate the rallies, noting down those who > attend. It is usually supporters and low ranking FDC > members who are taken to Makindye. > > As a means of spreading fear, it is an extremely > effective method. > > Philip and his wife Juliet were picked up in > January, accused of renting out their hall south of > the capital for an opposition meeting. > > Like many fellow suspects, they were accused of > supporting the People's Redemption Army (PRA), a > shadowy rebel outfit the government links to the > FDC. The Foreign Office Minister, Chris Mullin, says > that it is likely the PRA does not exist. > > "Every night I was hung upside down over a pit of > snakes while my wife was raped by army officers," > said Philip, who was held in Room 21 of Mbale Police > Station, another Amin torture chamber. "One time we > had to move five dead bodies into a truck. Another > time I was made to dig my own grave." Like Yasin, > Philip and Juliet were released. Their captors told > them to report what had happened to fellow > villagers, but threatened them with death if they > told anyone else. > > Certainly things are not as bad as they were under > Amin, who killed half-a-million people in eight > years of bloodshed. Mr Museveni remains popular in > many quarters for bringing stability to the country. > > The president was long seen as an African role model > in the West for his willingness to introduce > economic reforms demanded by the World Bank. > > But many donors are now disgusted both by the > repression and by the corruption in Mr Museveni's > cabinet, many of whom are relatives of the > president. "Museveni hoodwinked many donors for a > long time and people wanted to see the glass as half > full," a diplomat said. "We are now learning our > lesson." But that lesson may have come too late. A > gang of young thugs, known as the Kalangala Action > Plan (KAP), is allegedly preparing to disrupt the > elections. Styled on the youth wing of President > Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in Zimbabwe, the KAP > was an effective tool of intimidation during flawed > 2001 elections won by Mr Museveni. > > With an even greater risk of defeat if elections are > free and fair, diplomats fear that the KAP could be > responsible for serious violence and compound > Uganda's human rights reputation still further. > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/03/19/wuganda19.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/03/19/ixworld.html > > > > Commentary on the story at the Free Republic > > (www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1366204/posts, > FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794 ) > > > > --------------------------------- > > > TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign > Affairs; Government; News/Current Events > KEYWORDS: AFRICA; AMIN; IDIAMIN; MUSEVENI; TORTURE; > UGANDA > > --------------------------------- > > > Africa does not need billions more dollars in > western aid, as tony blair's commission for Africa > suggests. It needs this kind of behavior to stop. > Smart sanctions should defintely be imposed if > Museveni refuses to stand down. Fat lot of good, > they'll do though. Look at Zimbabwe. > > > 1 posted on 03/19/2005 10:44:01 AM PST by propertius > > > --------------------------------- > > > To: propertius > > What is truly sobering is that Museveni may be the > lesser of the evils in Uganda. > > 2 posted on 03/19/2005 10:53:36 AM PST by > anniegetyourgun > > --------------------------------- > > > To: propertius > > Has Coffee Ananus considered Uganda to be part of > the UN HRC yet? If not, what is he waiting for? > > FMCDH(BITS) > 3 posted on 03/19/2005 11:32:47 AM PST by nothingnew > (There are two kinds of people; Decent and > indecent.) > === message truncated ===> _______________________________________________ > Ugandanet mailing list > [email protected] > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet > % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
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