Shafik Walusimbi, who was kept at the Flying Squad’s detention facility in Kireka for more than a week, has been awarded Shs 10 million by the High Court.
Justice Joyce Kavuma, who presided over the case, ordered the government to pay Walusimbi the money as compensation after finding that police detained him beyond the constitutional 48-hour limit.
But she rejected Walusimbi’s claims that he had been tortured while in custody, saying the evidence presented was not strong enough to prove the allegation.
Walusimbi’s triumph could be a watershed moment for political activists and other suspects who are often held in police cells or ungazetted detention facilities in Uganda for several days despite the Constitution requiring authorities to produce them before a judge within 48 hours.
Usually, the authorities justify the long detention of some suspects to “ongoing investigations,” but Justice Kavuma said police cannot justify detaining suspects beyond the constitutional limit simply because “investigations are still ongoing.”
Walusimbi said he was arrested on November 20, 2024, at about 10.45 am from his home in Kisimbili in Wakiso Town Council.
Five armed men in plain clothes from the police Flying Squad picked him up and took him to the Flying Squad detention facility in Kireka, commonly known as Wembule.
Walusimbi said he was first held at Wembule before being transferred to CPS. He remained in detention until November 29, 2024, when he was finally taken to Kira Chief Magistrate’s Court to face criminal charges.
In total, he spent eight days in detention before appearing in court.
In his application before the High Court, Walusimbi argued that the prolonged detention violated Article 23 of the Constitution, which requires that a person arrested by authorities must be brought to court within 48 hours.
He also accused police officers of torturing him while he was held at the Kireka Flying Squad detention facility.
Walusimbi told the court that during his detention, he was repeatedly beaten with sticks and wires and kicked in the stomach by police officers who wanted him to confess to charges of attempted murder and malicious damage.
Because of the beatings, he said his body developed swellings, and he started passing urine mixed with blood. After he was later released on bail, Walusimbi sought medical treatment at Capital Center Medical Clinic, where doctors recorded symptoms including blood in his urine, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing.
His lawyers argued that the injuries showed he had been subjected to torture, which is prohibited under the Constitution and international human rights laws.
They also told the court that police deliberately kept Walusimbi in detention for several days so that visible injuries could heal before he was produced in court.
The government strongly rejected Walusimbi’s allegations.
Police investigator Catherine Nampindi told the court that Walusimbi had actually been arrested on November 22, 2024, and not November 20 as he claimed.
She said the arrest followed complaints that Walusimbi had attacked two people inside a rented apartment during a domestic dispute.
According to the police version, one of the complainants reported that Walusimbi had assaulted them during a fight in which property, including a television set and mobile phones, was damaged.
Nampindi also told the court that during police interviews, Walusimbi admitted he had sustained injuries during a scuffle with his former girlfriend and her male friend.
The government further argued that the 48-hour rule did not apply over the weekend because Walusimbi had been arrested on a Friday.
It said Walusimbi never raised any complaints of torture during the criminal trial and only brought up the allegations later in the human rights case.
They told the court the application was an afterthought intended to interfere with the ongoing criminal proceedings.
Court quashes Shs 1.24 billion tax demand against Britania by URA
After examining the evidence and arguments from both sides, Justice Kavuma concluded that Walusimbi had indeed been detained beyond the time allowed by the Constitution.
The judge noted that even if the court accepted the government’s claim that he was arrested on November 22, he was still produced in court on November 29, which exceeded the constitutional limit.
“The continued detention of the applicant for a period exceeding forty-eight hours without being produced before a competent court of law constituted a violation of his right to personal liberty,” Justice Kavuma ruled.
Justice Kavuma explained that if police officers believe investigations will take longer, they have the option of releasing suspects on police bond rather than keeping them in detention.
However, she found that Walusimbi had not provided enough evidence to prove that he was tortured while in police custody.
While the medical report showed that he had injuries, the court said those injuries might have come from the earlier fight described by the police.
“In light of these alternative and plausible explanations, this court cannot definitively rule out non-tortious causes of the medical findings relied upon by the applicant,” she said.
For that reason, the claim of torture failed, but despite that finding, the court ruled that Walusimbi was entitled to compensation because his detention beyond 48 hours was unlawful.
Justice Kavuma awarded him Shs 10 million in general damages and ordered the government to pay interest of 6% per year on the amount until it is fully paid. The government was also ordered to pay the legal costs of the case.
“The whole essence of producing a person before a court within 48 hours is to ensure that the person arrested gets a fair trial,” Justice Kavuma said.
