By Lisa Vives <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior military commanders, including the son of President Yoweri Museveni, have been named in a case before the International Criminal Court for a wave of abductions and torture \u2013 adding new charges to claims leveled by opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, the former reggae singer known as Bobi Wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors at the ICC are already reviewing an early submission from Wine that described widespread human rights abuses before presidential polls held in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wine\u2019s National Unity Platform party has said that more than 600 members and activists were detained by masked men in vehicles making them difficult to identify. But according to lawyers and victims of the detentions, the Special Forces Command is to blame for many of the abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SFC, commanded by Lt. Gen Muhoozi Kainerubaga, Museveni\u2019s son, is named in the complaint along with several senior officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Uganda today, the civil function is subverted in favor of the military that patrols all towns and cities,\u201d the complaint alleges. \u201cThe military maintains power of arrest over civilians who are held on vague and indeterminate charges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some detainees have had their joints or genitals beaten with wires, have been burned with cigarettes or had fingernails torn out, as described in the complaint. At least one detainee died in custody and many of those abducted have suffered significant and potentially lasting physical and psychological harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the President has denied most of the charges, he acknowledged the killing of a few terrorists. \u201cBecause of misbehavior and plans to stop the elections, the security forces deployed heavily. In the case of Kampala, we brought in a commando unit that had been exemplary in Somalia. They killed a few terrorists who were here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A U.S. attorney, Bruce Afran, drew up the new complaint on behalf of Bobbi Wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US provides almost $1 billion annually in development and security aid to Uganda. This month the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, announced that visa restrictions would be imposed on those responsible for recent human rights abuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lisa Vives Senior military commanders, including the son of President Yoweri Museveni, have been named in a case before the International Criminal Court for a wave of abductions and torture \u2013 adding new charges to claims leveled by opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, the former reggae singer known as Bobi Wine. Prosecutors at the ICC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":185865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-185864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n