Regime of Terror - No, not the US, but Uganda

Regime of tyranny and torture back to haunt Uganda
By Adrian Blomfield in Kampala (Filed: 19/03/2005)

Suspected dissidents disappear after midnight visitsto their homes; chilling screams can again be heardfrom Idi Amin's infamous torture chambers, reopenedafter a quarter of a century of disuse. From the fewthat escape come tales of punishment beatings and evenmass executions.Welcome to President Yoweri Museveni's Uganda. One ofBritain's favourite African states in recent yearshas, almost unnoticed in the West, become a sinisterland where a corrupt regime uses its secret police torule through fear.The reasons for this transition are not hard tofathom. Mr Museveni has ruled Uganda since 1986, whenhis rebels marched triumphantly into the capitalKampala. Many of his countrymen believe he now wantsto recast himself as that most African of leaders: apresident for life.Signalling his intent to jettison the vestigialtrappings of democracy his government still professes,Mr Museveni has set out to remove a constitutionalprovision that prevents him from standing in electionsnext year.Not all Ugandans are keen on the idea, but thegovernment has ways of making them change their mind.Last year, Yasin, a taxi driver who occasionallychauffeured a senior opposition official around the countryside, waswoken by a loud rapping at his door a few hours before dawn. The men whohad come to arrest him were not policemen, but members of the widelyfeared Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).Yasin knew that the CMI, a shadowy spy agency directly answerable to thepresident, had no powers to arrest anybody. But he also knew better thanto question his captors.He was taken to Makindye barracks, where some of theworst atrocities of Amin's infamous State ResearchBureau, which used to force inmates to beat each otherto death with sledgehammers, took place in the 1970s."Every day for a week, they would hang me upside downand beat me with clubs," Yasin said. "They wanted toknow names of people working for the opposition. Ikept saying I didn't know any, but they wouldn'tbelieve me." On his third day, Yasin watched as afellow inmate, an elderly man accused of recruitingfor the main opposition alliance, the Forum forDemocratic Change (FDC), was killed using a methodknown as "Liverpool". The victim's head was placed ina bag that was repeatedly filled with water. Tobreathe, he had to drink it all, but the more hedrank, the more bloated his belly became until hisinnards ruptured and he died in a pool of his ownurine.The official existence of political parties was onlyallowed last year, under considerable westernpressure. Until then Mr Museveni operated what hecalled a no-party system, in which every Ugandanbelonged to an entity known as The Movement, which washeaded by the president.In theory, the philosophy was supposed to rid Ugandaof the ethnic and political divisions that helpedcause the civil wars and dictatorships thatcharacterised much of the country's history sinceindependence from Britain in 1962. In practice it hasallowed Mr Museveni to exert total control over mostof his people. The leader of the FDC, Kizza Besigye, in exile inSouth Africa, has instructed his campaigners to doleout copies of Animal Farm during party rallies.But most people are too frightened to attend. Secretpolice infiltrate the rallies, noting down those whoattend. It is usually supporters and low ranking FDCmembers who are taken to Makindye.As a means of spreading fear, it is an extremelyeffective method.Philip and his wife Juliet were picked up in January,accused of renting out their hall south of the capitalfor an opposition meeting.Like many fellow suspects, they were accused ofsupporting the People's Redemption Army (PRA), ashadowy rebel outfit the government links to the FDC.The Foreign Office Minister, Chris Mullin, says thatit is likely the PRA does not exist."Every night I was hung upside down over a pit ofsnakes while my wife was raped by army officers," saidPhilip, who was held in Room 21 of Mbale PoliceStation, another Amin torture chamber. "One time wehad to move five dead bodies into a truck. Anothertime I was made to dig my own grave." Like Yasin,Philip and Juliet were released. Their captors toldthem to report what had happened to fellow villagers,but threatened them with death if they told anyoneelse.Certainly things are not as bad as they were underAmin, who killed half-a-million people in eight yearsof bloodshed. Mr Museveni remains popular in manyquarters for bringing stability to the country.The president was long seen as an African role modelin the West for his willingness to introduce economicreforms demanded by the World Bank.But many donors are now disgusted both by therepression and by the corruption in Mr Museveni'scabinet, many of whom are relatives of the president."Museveni hoodwinked many donors for a long time andpeople wanted to see the glass as half full," adiplomat said. "We are now learning our lesson." Butthat lesson may have come too late. A gang of youngthugs, known as the Kalangala Action Plan (KAP), isallegedly preparing to disrupt the elections. Styledon the youth wing of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PFparty in Zimbabwe, the KAP was an effective tool of intimidation duringflawed 2001 elections won by Mr Museveni.With an even greater risk of defeat if elections arefree and fair, diplomats fear that the KAP could beresponsible for serious violence and compound Uganda'shuman rights reputation still further.