National Unity Platform (NUP) says one of its supporters who had been missing for almost a year has resurfaced after allegedly being held in military detention before being produced in court and remanded to prison.
The claim was made on Thursday by NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya after he and other party officials visited Luzira Upper Prison in Kampala.
According to Mr Rubongoya, they found Amos Rwangomani whose whereabouts had been unknown for several months at the prison following his appearance before a military court last week.
Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) had not publicly commented on Mr Rwangomani’s detention or the allegations at the time of publication.
In a statement posted on social media, Rubongoya said Rwangomani told party officials that he had been detained at Kasenyi a military facility that has repeatedly featured in allegations of incommunicado detention made by opposition politicians and human rights organisations.
According to the NUP official, Rwangomani said he had been held at the same location as opposition activist King Zale, journalist and former prisoner Sam Mugumya and Hon. Muwanga Kivumbi before he was produced in court.
Neither the UPDF nor the Ministry of Defence has publicly responded to the allegations.
Rubongoya renewed the opposition’s demand for the release of those he says remain in secret detention.
“We continue to demand the release of comrades Sam Mugumya, King Zale and all the others who are still being held incommunicado,” he wrote.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly accused security agencies of holding political opponents in undisclosed locations without access to lawyers or family members claims which the government has consistently denied.
NUP officials say he had been missing for close to a year before reappearing in military court proceedings last week.
The developments come amid increasing tensions between the government and opposition party following the January general elections.
Several opposition politicians and activists have accused security agencies of arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention and enforced disappearances, while government officials maintain that all arrests are conducted within the law and in the interest of national security.
As of Friday, UPDF, Uganda Police Force and the Ministry of Defence had not publicly responded to Rubongoya’s latest claims regarding Rwangomani, Kasenyi military facility or the continued detention of the other individuals named.
