Police have arrested and charged a group of activists protesting the continued torture and killing of Ugandans working abroad.
The suspects affiliated to “Torture Survivors Movement UG” are currently being detained at the Kira Road Police Station on charges of inciting violence.
The group held a brief demonstration at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Kololo, Kampala, where they accused the government of doing nothing while its citizens working in Arab countries are tortured and dying.
According to Patrick Onyango the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, the group paraded at the embassy while waving a portrait belonging to one deceased Caroline Kyomuhangi who recently died in Saudi Arabia under unclear circumstances.
Led by Sharon Kemigisha, the Wandegeya Woman Parish Councilor, the protesters, who were driving in a vehicle registration number UAQ 814B, stormed the Saudi Embassy in Kololo, Kampala, with a coffin decorated with placards and the Saudi Arabian flags demanding an end to the acts of torture and murder of Ugandans in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.
However, police rounded up the suspects leading to running battles. The officers managed to arrest one of the suspects identified as Sam Eddie and his unidentified colleague. Police also impounded the vehicle the protesters were using and the coffin.
Kemigisha said despite the disruptions by security, they won’t give up on their cause against human trafficking, torture, and murder of migrant workers in the Middle-East Countries.
She said they want the government of Uganda and the Saudi embassy to protect the hundreds of Ugandan migrant workers facing all forms of abuse.
“In a space of one month, we have seen five dead bodies of girls who went to work as maids in Saudi Arabia. We have never seen the government coming out to say something that means they are part of the ongoing torture and murders. Enough is enough, we want something done to stop this,” she said.
Bosco Sserunkuma, another protester, says they carried a coffin and the Saudi national flag to the embassy as a sign of mourning for hundreds of Ugandans migrant workers that have been murdered, and their families denied justice.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, says the protesters are locked up at Kira Road Police Division on charges of staging an illegal assembly and inciting violence.
“We have also confiscated that coffin as an exhibit. And we want to appeal to the members of the public that if they want to do something at the embassy, they should follow the procedures before engaging themselves that there are going to demonstrate,” Onyango said.
In August this year, Uganda announced the review of the agreements on migrant workers with a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East because of the increasing cases of abuse. There are over 80,000 Ugandans working in Middle Eastern countries, according to the government. But many have reported being physically assaulted, sexually abused and in worst case scenarios returned to Uganda in body bags.
“In line with our mandate of keeping law and order, we unceremoniously adjourned their illegal assembly.
In the process we arrested one suspect called Edeu Sam and recovered a confin as exhibit. The suspect is detained at Kira Road Police station and charged with inciting violence. We appeal to members of the public to follow the laid down procedures in regard to demonstrating at any embassy,” Onyango said.
