Emmanuel Kajubu
27 June 2006
Kampala — TEARS flowed from guests when a torture victim narrated his ordeal of being tortured in the hands of UPDF soldiers in 2003, leading to his hands being amputated.
This was during the occasion to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, on Monday at Boma Grounds, Fort Portal municipality.
Charles Opio, 35, a resident of Laliya village, Bunyatira sub-county, Gulu District, said he was arrested on April 16, 2003 by soldiers who suspected him of having a gun.
He said the army detained him at the Bunyatira detachment where he was put in a pit for four days with his hands tied backwards.
"I was beaten and dumped in a pit for four days without food or medical treatment.
"When the army found out that I was innocent, I was released and taken to hospital and the doctors told me that my hands were to be amputated because they were swollen," Opio said through an interpreter.
Guests included EU representative, Uwe Ber-meier, Commissioners from Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and Kabarole district chairman Michael Mugisa. UHRC's constantine Karusoke said they would pursue the matter.
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