
Uganda:
Thousands Tortured Every Year
Like many nations, no one knows just how many people are tortured, or are survivors of torture, in Uganda. The country hosts around 1.5 million refugees, and IRCT’s best data suggests that, on average, one in three refugees have suffered torture or ill-treatment. Ugandans themselves are tortured with appalling regularity. Official figures from the Uganda Human Rights Commission report some 1,500 people are tortured per year. But IRCT and other rights groups know that is a huge underestimate. The Uganda Police Force (UPF) and the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) are the leading perpetrators.
In 2021, the IRCT supported our member in Uganda, the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), with advocacy towards the review of Uganda’s human rights record through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process at the UN in Geneva. The support included capacity development, support with writing the national advocacy report, and holding online meetings with UN diplomats in Geneva.

CREDIT: ACTV

CREDIT: ACTV
Watch:
Using Data to Fight Torture in Uganda

CREDIT: Cedric Cruke

CREDIT: ACTV
In its National Report to the UPR, the Ugandan government said it had taken “effective measures to prevent any acts of torture or ill treatment, including a complaint and investigation procedure” set up under the PPTA. While the numbers (see below) offered by the State suggest steps towards accountability and reparation, in the experience of the IRCT much more will need to be done before the scourge of torture in Uganda is eradicated.
Claims of State:
Steps Uganda Reported It Had Taken
Source: Uganda National Report to UPR 2022
Special Project:
Livelihoods Support to Female Torture Survivors
In northern Uganda, most torture survivors treated by ACTV are women, many of whom were also widowed by the Lord’s Resistance Army and left without economic resources and financial stability.
With a grant from IRCT, ACTV provided over 200 women with income generating projects. One group received maize seeds, training on farming and a milling machine to make flour out of the maize they grew. Another received ground nut seeds and oxen to plough their land. The results were extraordinary. ACTV observed a dramatic improvement in the socio-economic situation of these women, which in turn contributed to their individual and collective healing and helped their villages to thrive.

“We can now pay school fees, medicine, food and save up some money. It is really helping us to feel strong and proud again.”