Presentation on the constitutional mandate and the challenges of the Uganda

human rights commission

Introduction

The Uganda Human Rights Commission serves to monitor and advance human rights in
Uganda. The UHRC is a body established under the 1995 Constitution Article 51 under
the Bill of Rights found in Chapter four of the Constitution.

Constitutional mandate of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC)

The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) is mandated under Article 52 of the
Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 to investigate at its own initiative or on a
complaint made by any person or group of person against the violation of their human
right;

To visit jails, prisons and places of detention in order to assess and make
recommendations in respect to the conditions of the inmates.

Most relevantly, the Uganda Human Rights Commission is mandated to monitor the
Government’s compliance to international treaty obligations to human rights.

For example, In 2018, the Uganda Human Rights Commission conducted 962 inspection
visits to places of detention that comprised of 409 police stations, 384 police posts,
163 government prisons, 5 remand homes and one military detention facility.100
There is however need for the UHRC to develop a legal pathway with legal aid service
providers to ensure timely referral and response to human rights issues especially
considering that UHRC has free access to detention facilities.

In addition to inspecting detention facilities, the Uganda Human Rights Commission

also provides tailored sensitization of the detainees and inmates about their rights,
duties and responsibilities,101 during which we tell them about their rights, duties
and responsibilities and in so doing we create awareness to them training to security
officers on the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act, 2012. An interview with the
Uganda Human Rights Officer in Arua district confirmed this. ‘We provide annual
capacity building sessions to both police and prison officers where we get to sensitize
them about the Torture Act and the need to respect and promote human rights.’102
This was reiterated in all prisons visited.

UHRC carried monitoring visits in the areas affected by floods and land slides in the
country. UHRC observed that in flood areas sanitation facilities like pit latrines were
submerged in the flood water which raised the issue of contamination of the water
source.
UHRC carried out monitoring visits to IDP and refugee camps. The UHRC noted that in
one of the IDP camps, there was insufficient safe and portable water. In the refugee
camp, there was only one pit latrine being used by the whole refugee camp.

The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda further states that the commission is to
publish periodical reports and submit annual reports to parliament on the state of
human rights and freedoms in the country’s.

The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda states that in the performance of its
functions, the Uganda Human Rights Commission shall

(a) Establish its operational guidelines and rule of procedure.

(b) Observe the rules of natural justice; inter alia

Powers of the UHRC

The UHRC has the following powers among others.
(a) To issue summons or other orders requiring the attendance of any ' person before
the commission and the production of any document or record relevant to any
investigation by the constitution.
(b) To question any person in respect of any subject matter under investigation before
the commission.

Independence of the commission

The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda provides that, the commission shall be
independent and shall not, in the performance of its duties, be subject to the
direction or control of any person or authoritys.

Challenges faced by the Uganda Rights commission

Legal Dilemmas

There seems to be a trend in the legal evolution of institutions in Uganda that would
support the suggestion that the government first puts in place an institution, and
follows with the requisite legislation. A simple illustration of this point will suffice. In
1986, the government put in place the Office of the inspector General of
Government. The requisite statute was assented to two years later in 1988.

The Duplication of Efforts

Both the 1995 Constitution and the UHRC Act (in line with the Paris Principles) provide
for a wide mandate for the Commission. The UHRC can investigate any allegation of
any human rights violation whether provided for in the Constitution or by any other
national or even international instrument. In turn, this has also implied that all
people alleging human rights violations can lodge their complaints with the UHRC.
This mandate did not take into consideration the fact that although the UHRC could
ideally deal with all kinds of violations; the government had simultaneously put in
place institutions specialized to deal with such issues. For instance, the Children's
Statute (now Act) of 1996 provided for a Family and Children's Court to handle most
matters related to children.

Elastic Time Frames

The problem of elastic time frames is not unique to the UHRC but affects the Courts
of Law as well. Alluding to the seriousness of delayed judgments, Justice James
Ogoola stated that, "judgments in many instances have been inordinately delayed
resulting in embarrassing situations for the judiciary ... )61in his concluding remarks
in the same paper.

Elastic Time Frames

The problem of elastic time frames is not unique to the UHRC but affects the Courts
of Law as well. Alluding to the seriousness of delayed judgments, Justice James
Ogoola stated that, "judgments in many instances have been inordinately delayed
resulting in embarrassing situations for the judiciary ... )61in his concluding remarks
in the same paper.

Limited Staff for the Tribunals

The tribunals are presided over by Commissioners who also have other responsibilities
in the UHRC since they are also policy makers. Inevitably this implies that they are
incapable of devoting all their time and energy to matters that have been filed before
the UHRC.

Financial Constraints

The Government of Uganda has made budgetary allocations to the Commission for
each financial year, but this has consistently been inadequate to cater for all
Commission activities.

Conclusion
While non-state actors have creatively enhanced access to justice for many, there has
been no standardized method of practice resulting in an ad hoc approach. With the
limited funding, there is need for improved coordination among LASPs to ensure wider
coverage. Challenges within Access to Justice Sub Programme of the Governance and
Security Programme (former JLOS are inter linked and require a multi-pronged
approach. For instance, increasing number of judges without addressing the staffing
gaps within police and the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions runs
counter to addressing accessing to justice challenges.
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