16 supporters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) arrested during the tense Kawempe North by-election campaigns have appeared before the Kawempe Chief Magistrate’s Court limping and visibly injured.
Their ordeal has sparked outrage from political leaders, human rights activists and supporters who accuse security forces of brutality, illegal detention and political persecution.
While the defense team fights for bail and medical care, the state insists the arrests were justified alleging the accused engaged in acts of “common nuisance” and “malicious damage.”
At the center of this storm is the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JAT), a heavily armed paramilitary unit notorious for its crackdowns on opposition figures.
NUP officials claim that the detained supporters were subjected to beatings, prolonged detention in inhumane conditions and denied medical treatment after suffering broken bones and other severe injuries.
“These comrades were arrested for simply wearing red and expressing their political views. What kind of democracy arrests its citizens for supporting an opposition party?”
Outside the court, families of the detainees stood in anguish many not having seen their loved ones since the arrests.
Some sobbed, others defiantly chanted, “Free our comrades!” Security forces heavily patrolled the area keeping a close watch on the gathering to prevent any protests.
Inside the packed courtroom, defense lawyers accused the state of flagrantly violating the detainees’ rights, arguing that the arrests were politically motivated and unconstitutional, detainees were held incommunicado, denied access to lawyers and families and some suffered torture and degrading treatment in custody.
The prosecution however, defended the arrests, arguing that the accused were engaged in “rebellious activities” that posed a threat to national security. But when pressed for evidence, prosecutors requested more time for investigations further stalling justice for the detained NUP supporters.
NUP lawyers were quick to condemn this as a deliberate ploy to keep opposition supporters locked up indefinitely.
“The regime is using fear and violence to silence us, but we shall not back down. These comrades will be free, and so will Uganda,” declared one of the defense attorneys.
To opposition leaders, this is bigger than Kawempe North, it is about Uganda’s shrinking democratic space.
In recent months, opposition members, journalists, and activists have been targeted, arrested, and in some cases abducted.
With allegations of state-sponsored abductions, torture and politically motivated charges increasing, opposition warn that Uganda’s democracy is under siege.
They accuse security forces of turning the judiciary into a tool for political suppression rather than justice.
