Sunday, April 6, 2014

Civilians held for trial by court-martial in Uganda

In Lujila v. Officer in Charge of Kigo Government Prison, [2013] UGHC 290 (Musota, J.), the High Court of Uganda last year refused habeas corpus to a civilian--one of many--being held for trial by court-martial. Finding that the issue was foreclosed under Ugandan case law, the court observed:
"Before I take leave of this case I must comment that this application was uncalled for since Mr. [Ladislaus] Rwakafuzi learned counsel for the applicant ought to have known the position of the law having prosecuted Namugerwa Hadija’s case up to the Supreme Court. That case had similar facts as the instant one. It was misleading to urge this court to depart from that clear statement of the law. Luckily enough, the sharp legal microscope of this court detected the infection in time."
See also, e.g., Balidawa v. Officer in Charge of Kigo Government Prison, [2013] UGHC 18; Mulebi v. Officer in Charge of Kigo Government Prison, [2013] UGHC 20; Rwaheiguru v. Nyebare, [2013] UGHC 107. Contemporary human rights principles, however, disfavor the trial of civilians by courts-martial.

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