Early this week there was a scene of pandemonium at the residence of ASP Mohammad Kirumira as Police’s Flying Squad used a grinder to break into his house and arrest the officer for errant conduct. But now, Human Rights Defenders are condemning the manner of this arrest saying it was brutal and a violation of his rights. The Executive Director Foundation for Human Rights Initiative Livingstone Ssewanyana defended the embattled officer. “It was dehumanizing, it was brutal and it’s also reminiscent of the way the Police handles others suspects. Because we have over and overtime condemned the manner in which it conducts arrests in which it carries out its activities using excessive force and of course what happened with the arrest of Afande Kirumira is no exception.” Said, Dr. Livingstone Ssewanyana – Foundation for Human Rights Initiative.
The rights body said the Police overreacted to Kirumira’s case. To them, they said Police only needed to summon Kirumira by writing or summoning him through the office of the Inspector General of Police other than cutting parts of the burglar system of his door that put the lives of his wife and children at risk of being attacked at night. “So we want to condemn the manner in which he was arrested, I think he is entitled to his views and like any officer or any individual, the law allows the Police to just summon the individual. He could be summoned and am sure that he could report himself to the Police but using high handed measures and means is uncalled for.”
Ssewanyana said Kirumira’s situation was just one isolated case. “Because we have over and overtime condemned the manner in which it handles arrests, in which it carries out its activities using excessive force and of course what happened in the arrest of Afande Kirumira is no exception.” Currently, the former Buyende DPC is being detained at Nalufenya in Jinja. Afande Kirumira is just one out of the many Ugandans who have suffered at the hands of the Uganda Police. Now the Rights Activists say it is time for the entire Police leadership to be overhauled.
