It would be difficult to overstate the potential importance of a case before the High Court in Uganda, involving at least 13 applicants against a number of police officers and the Attorney-General of the country.
Mutonyi awarded significant damages for the rights’ infringements in the two cases, and there were a number of important take-aways for the police.
It was clear that the police did not have any real charge to bring against the applicants, but were just filling up cells at the central police station in Kampala ‘obsessed with the violation of individual rights in total disregard of the (provisions) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda’.
If a regional police officer ‘dumps citizens’ at a particular station claiming this was because of overcrowding, it usually meant that the human rights of those concerned were being violated and the receiving officer was supposed to act professionally and respect their rights.
She concluded that adequate compensation should be awarded to hold police officers accountable as well as ‘any other security agencies that are notoriously known for violating the rights of individuals’.
