Members of Parliament on the Human Rights Committee have been blocked from accessing suspected Safe Houses in Nkokonjeru, Kyengera and Nalukolongo.
Led by the committee Chairperson Janefher Egunyu Nantume, the MPs on Tuesday drove to the facilities in the company of journalists only to be denied access at the facilities.
The MPs were told by the one of the soldiers guarding the facility that they don’t open for “whoever goes there”. They were told that they needed to get permission from the ISO director general Mr Kaka Bagyenda first to be allowed in.
The legislators had to leave after being blocked from accessing the premises. They however said they are determined and will leave no stone unturned in fighting ‘human rights abuse’.
Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, who is a member of the committee said,” This on-spot visit further exposes the human rights abuses by these ISO operatives who have been arresting people in a gangster style.”
Kawempe North MP Latif Ssebbagala said that the committee cannot stand and see Ugandans being harassed and keep quiet. He said that they will leave no stone unturned in regard to the alleged tortures in Safe Houses.
At another facility in Nalukolongo in Musoke Zone, the MPs found UPDF officers and others clad in Local Defense Unit (LDU) uniform at the gate. They also declined to grant the MPs access directing them to seek permission from an officer only identified as Maj. Sulait at Nateete Police Station.
According to the, revellers at Nalukolongo, they say that the facility is always under tight security.
Two residents who preferred anonymity claimed that a timber seller identified as Yiga was recently killed at the facility and the UPDF officers disguised his death by shooting in the air saying that he wanted to flee.
At Kyengera, residents who gathered on arrival of the committee said that the facility is no go area for them since they are barred from standing near the premises.
“We stay around here but the army officers never allow us to get close to the gate. We only see soldiers entering and coming out and sometimes we hear cries of help from inside,” said one of the residents.
Last month, Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga directed the Human Rights Committee of parliament to investigate claims about the presence of Safe Houses in Lwamayuba and Kyengera where several Ugandans are reportedly being tortured.
The directive followed concerns raised by Kawempe North Member of Parliament Latif Ssebaggala and his Arua Municipality counterpart, Kassiano Ezati Wadri who narrated the horrendous torture of Ugandans in ungazetted places.
Ssebaggala cited several complaints about missing persons from different constituencies across the country explaining that he was approached by some people who managed to escape after allegedly being kidnapped by the Internal Security Organisation-ISO operatives.
Ssebaggala claimed that after picking the suspects, ISO takes them to Katabi in Entebbe from where they are loaded on canoes and boats and taken to Lwamayuba on Kalangala Island.
