On July 12, 2016, the Uganda Police Force was filmed beating supporters of the Forum for Democratic Change’s President Dr. Warren Kizza Besigye as they welcomed him from Luzira prison where he had spent over two months on charges of treason.
The Police men on a patrol truck that was in Kizza Besigye’s convoy as he headed to his Kasangati home, they abandoned their role of guarding the FDC icon and resorted to caning his supporters.
Besigye was yesterday granted bail, after two months in detention in the wake of the February 2016 elections. President Museveni, in power since 1986, had been declared the winner but Besigye cried foul, declared himself the winner, called for an independent audit of the election, and released a video of himself “swearing in” as president. On May 18, he was charged with treason.
As people gathered to see Besigye travel home from prison, video evidence shows security forces – both in and out of uniform, on foot and in vehicles – began caning and beating everyone and anyone they could reach to scatter the crowds. As videos of the incident circulated, politicians, human rights activists, and journalists condemned the flagrant and arbitrary attack. A local journalist claimed that Ugandans had been lashed like “stray cattle to keep them in check.”
In November 2015, President Museveni summoned the police to brass on a similar issue of beating civilians.
“Why should a police officer beat up a civilian? Even barking at a civilian is not good. If a civilian becomes violent, handcuff him. Beating civilians is unacceptable to NRM. That behavior belongs to different era,” roared President Yoweri Museveni.
