Uganda uses "excessive" force in unruly region-UN
Source: Reuters
(Adds Ugandan army comment) GENEVA, April 19 (Reuters) - Uganda uses indiscriminate and excessive force in fighting bandits in its unruly northeast and 69 civilians have died in recent months as a result, the United Nation's top human rights official said on Thursday. U.N.High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour accused the Kampala government of ignoring her appeal in November "to respect its obligations to protect the human rights of all individuals". "The excessive and indiscriminate use of force by the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF)" between mid-November and March 31 caused the civilian deaths, amongst them women and children, and 10 cases of torture were reported, she said in a statement. The Ugandan army rejected the accusation. Bandits had created a climate of fear and insecurity in the Karamoja region bordering Kenya and had reportedly killed at least seven soldiers, eight civilians and more than 288 cattle in the same period in road ambushes and cattle raids, Arbour said. However, the government should use the civilian justice system to punish them rather than simply turning to its armed forces, she said. Uganda army spokesman Major Felix Kulayigye told Reuters that the recommendations were based on a "false report" "The UN seem to have adopted this report wholeheartedly from Save the Children," he said. Save the Children accused the Ugandan army last month of killing 66 children on Feb. 12 during a cordon and search operation, a claim stongly denied by the Ugandan government. "The operations they have referred to on the 12th February were carried out in the wilderness -- how would there have been so many children there? It is unthinkable that leaders would have kept quiet after such a gross violation," Kulayigye said. "If they had carried out their own independent investigation their conclusion would have been different. "Do they really think we are horrible monsters happy to butcher children? We are not monsters -- far from it." (Additional reporting by Euan Denholm in Kampala)
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