President Museveni on Saturday warned security forces against attempting to gather information through torture. Mr Museveni outlined far-reaching consequences, including courts not admitting evidence obtained through torture.
“It must not be used again if at all it was being used like I see some groups claim in the media,” Mr Museveni said of torture claims, adding: “Why do you beat a prisoner? Coerced confessions by criminals are unnecessary if investigators do their work well.”
It is not clear why Museveni has come out strongly against torture having previously either boasted of the heavy-handed approach of his security forces or turned a blind eye to acts of torture. On Saturday, the President said he does not want to lose gains fought for in the bush.
Mr Museveni said security forces must not reverse the gains of the struggle and that what forced them to go to the bush should not come back to haunt them.
“Nobody should be in the uniform of the army when he does not respect the interests of [Ugandans]. When you respect the people of Uganda, you must observe the following: do not bark at people, do not beat the people, do not beat the public and even do not beat criminals and not even the children,” he said.
