Human Rights lawyers Uganda Muslim Lawyers Association, Muslim Center for Justice and Law, and Network for Public Interest Law-NEPTIL have petitioned the Uganda Human Rights Commission-UHRC over extrajudicial killings of terror suspects.
The lawyers are seeking a Court order to open and conduct investigations and a report from security organ over the alleged extra-judicial killing of citizens .
This follows a recent incidents in which suspected terrorists have been gunned down in Kampala and other parts of the country.
Four terror suspects linked to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels were gunned down in Ntoroko district as they attempted to flee to the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC). Prior to that ,a suspected suicide bomber identified as Musa Mudasiru was disabled while escaping from security officers in Bwaise.
The latest incident involved Sheikh Kirevu Senior Muslim cleric in Makindye Ssabagabo Division, Wakiso district who was killed at his other home in Katereke-Nsangi, Kyengera township on suspicion of running a terror cell.
Ali Kankaka the President of Uganda Muslim Lawyers Association family members and eyewitnesses are giving different accounts from security officers on how the suspects died.
He says they were told by the family of the deceased Sheikh Kirevu that he was handicapped and bundled onto a pickup truck along with his wives before security officers shot him dead while his children helplessly looked on.
He says the practice of killing suspects is a violation of Article 22 (1) of the Constitution.
“We have witnessed a pilling of extrajudicial killings ,In Uganda the constitution provides that no body shall be deprived of their right to life unless through a sentence passed by a court of jurisdiction decides after a fair and independent trial but Police is now killing suspects and they explained but the families are giving us different accounts.”He said
He now wants security officers involved in the killings to be held accountable for the killing of suspects in their custody.
“It is only the the UHRC that can investigate and put these security officers to task to account for the manner in which they executed Sheikh Kirevu and explain how he was escaping under handcuffs and also explain why they couldn’t shoot any other part to disable him .We are interested in knowing if he was engaged in these crimes and to what extent before trial but that is impossible because Police has tried ,prosecuted and executed him now”he said
