A soldier has lost his manhood after he was brutally tortured in military barrack accused of a crime.
Cpl Majibu Ssebyara
In an editorial by Daily Monitor,
a shocking details how a soldier was tortured which resulted to him
losing his manhood has been revealed. Cpl Ssebyara was arrested one
chilly morning on June 12, 2015 by some accounts between 7:30-8:30am
that fateful day to begin a journey of being held incommunicado.
When the defence attorneys threatened to sue UPDF for contempt of
court, the General Court Martial on December 12 instead charged Cpl
Ssebyara afresh, this time with “offences relating to security” contrary to section 130(1)(a) of the UPDF Act, which also attracts death on conviction.
On June 12, 2015, there was sudden pandemonium at the UPDF base in
Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region. A tin containing ammunition for a
12.7mm anti-aircraft gun had vanished.
Commanders at the base knew they would be in trouble if they failed
to account for the missing 85 bullets. And worse, the Ugandan
contingent deployed under the African Union Peace-keeping Mission or
Amisom would generally be endangered if the ammunitions ended up in the
hands of al-Shabaab fighters that they were trying to dislodge from the
territory.
Senior UPDF officers paced up and down the base and made several
telephone calls. The gunners became the first suspects and were grilled,
with military investigators zeroing on Cpl Majibu Ssebyara.
The corporal had been deployed as a gunner in 2014 under UPDF’s Battle Group XIV.
Cpl Ssebyara was arrested one chilly morning on June 12, 2015 by
some accounts between 7:30-8:30am that fateful day to begin a journey of
being held incommunicado that, after two-and-a-half years, has left him
in perpetual pain, bereft of dignity and in a state of erectile
dysfunction.
Officially, he was indicted for failing to protect war materials
contrary to section 122(1) (2) (g) of the UPDF Act, 2005 an offence
which includes misuse or sale of war material and for which the only
penalty under the said law is death.
He was detained at Makindye Military Police Barracks, outside
Kampala, where he remains squirming in pain after suffering injuries
allegedly resulting from gross physical abuse.
In an affidavit in support of an application at the High Court
challenging his trial dated August 8, 2016, the soldier recounts how he
was “undressed, insulted and tied by the hands on a steel bar, a bag of
about 15 kilogrammes tied and hanged on the penis and testicles”. He was
then moved to a metallic container, handcuffed for 24 hours and left
for days without medical care.
Medical records dated October 6 and November 2, 2015 from Nakasero
Hospital and Bombo Military Hospital, respectively, indicate his right
testicle had become “smaller than the contralateral (opposite)
testis [and] was non-tender” and he has “a chronic right testicular
infarction and internal echogenicity with no flow.”
In other words, the weight tied to the genitals of the 33-year-old
father of three blocked blood flow to the right testicle, causing tissue
decay. Cpl Ssebyara now cannot achieve an erection.
He passes urine and stool with excruciating difficulty, according to his defence attorneys Ivan Mugabi and Isaac Ssemakade.
In his evidence which the court agreed to, Ssebyara narrates that: “I was tied with sisal ropes and told to stand on top of a sack of sand and ordered to put my hands above the head.” The
hands were tied up on an overhead metal barrier and the sand was
removed, leaving the feet hanging. The corporal said his tormentors
insisted he plead guilty to end the torture, an offence for which
perpetrators, whether private individuals or government employees, can
be held personally liable under the Prevention and Prohibition of
Torture Act, 2012.
By the time he was released from this torture chamber, he slumped
to the ground nearly unconscious and was dumped in a cell for days
before his condition deteriorated.
On September 2, 2015, he was arraigned before the General Court
Martial in criminal case UPDF/GCM/15/2015 (Uganda versus RA/145680
Corporal Majibu Ssebyara) and charged with failing to protect war
material.
He denied the charge and was remanded at Makindye Military Police
barracks. He filed a complaint with the UPDF Director for Special
Investigations Bureau and continues to await feedback months later.
His plight, for now, appears ignored by even the highest military echelons.
Army to investigate
The Defence and Military Spokesman, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, when
contacted last week said the army would investigate the alleged torture
of the soldier, but “there must be a reason why the court is holding
him”.
“However, torture cannot be occasioned by the UPDF [that] I know,” he said in a short text message (SMS) reply after consultation with the General Court Martial chairman, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti.
In their affidavit dated August 25, 2016 and September 14, 2016 in
response to Ssebyara’s submission in court, army witnesses Col Frank
Kyambadde, Maj Tom Bbalibya and Maj Raphael Mugisha claim that “the
soldier told Maj Bbalimbya and Maj Mpaka [that] he handed the missing
ammunition to a Somali citizen.”
The unnamed resident reportedly told UPDF investigators that the
detained corporal had asked him for $1,000 (shs3.8million) in exchange
for the bullets, but when he said he did not have the cash; Cpl Ssebyara
dug a hole in which he buried the ammunition. The officers claimed to
have video evidence, but they did not tender it in court.
In her November 22, 2016 judgement on the case, High Court Judge
Patricia Basaza Wasswa declared the corporal’s trial by the military
court as “illegal, null and void” and issued a permanent order
staying the proceedings in criminal case number UPDF/GCM/15/2015. She
also ordered that the military court, which the Supreme Court in
Constitutional Appeal number 3 of 2005 (Attorney General Vs Joseph
Tumushabe) ruled was subordinate to the High Court, discharge the
soldier and never to use evidence obtained through torture against him.
Accepting Ssebyara’s account of torture was valid, the judge
reminded the army that on September 29, 2015, the then GCM chairman Levi
Karuhanga, who died in April this year, had in a bail application
ruling admitted that Cpl Ssebyara “suffered from a medical condition that needs him to access urgent medical attention”.
The soldier’s lawyers are stuck with the High Court order which the
army declined to honour as the victim’s condition continues to
deteriorate.
“His testicles are rotting away. It is a disaster and we are frustrated with the army’s conduct,” Mr Mugabi, one of his lawyers, told this newspaper last week.
When the defence attorneys threatened to sue UPDF for contempt of
court, the General Court Martial on December 12 instead charged Cpl
Ssebyara afresh, this time with “offences relating to security” contrary
to section 130(1)(a) of the UPDF Act, which also attracts death on
conviction.
The medical report
Medical records dated October 6 and November 2, 2015 from Nakasero
Hospital and Bombo Military Hospital, respectively, indicate that
Ssebyara’s right testicle had become “smaller than the contralateral
(opposite) testis [and] was non-tender” and he has “a chronic right
testicular infarction and internal echogenicity with no flow.”
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