The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has revealed that Government has not yet paid over 700 million shillings in compensation to victims of torture and human rights violations. UHRC´s chairperson Margaret Sekaggya, right, revealed this fact at a press conference on Friday. Out of 800 million shillings, which the government was ordered to pay to victims of torture by State security agencies, only 93 million is paid. (10-APR-06)

This article, written by Peter Nyanzi, first aprreared in today´s edition of the independent Ugandan news paper the Monitor. It has been edited for republication here by HRH/Nivatiti Nandujja, the Interim Coordinator of the Human Rights House Project. Kampala. 

An appeal was made to the government to speed up payment of these people which was not adhered to.This money is supposed to help the victims to be able to survive and continue with their lives.While the commission ordered compensations to be made almost three years ago, the commission was powerless to force the government to pay. The government has an obligation to fulfill its liabilities,It would not be promoting and protecting the human rights of Ugandans if it refused to pay these victims.

A dilemma
Sekaggya  confessed that the commission and the unpaid victims were in a dilemma because they had no more recourse to have the money paid. The Commission is planning to have a meeting with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to ascertain what plans they have in dealing with this issue.

The notorious ministries for torture
The UHRC still registers cases of torture, therefore, there is still need to do more on the issues involving security agencies and issues of torture. The chair person appealed to the government to consider setting up a special budget for payment of compensations awarded by the commission’s tribunals. The money should be deducted from the budgets of the ministries concerned. The ministries that have been notorious for torture and human rights violations include defence and Internal Affairs.

The right of people living with HIV/Aids
Insufficient funding was limiting the work of the commission, but it was lobbying for more funding. In a bid to promote and protect the rights of people living with HIV/Aids, UHRC had entered into a corporation with the Danish Institute for Human Rights to design a secretariat to support the Unaids reference group on HIV/Aids and human rights in the global context.

Appeal
Sekaggya appealed to the government to do more on the situation in IDP camps in the war-torn northern Uganda.The chair person does not know if the government is getting uncomfortable with the commissions´ work, but it is benefiting a lot from their work.Uganda has emerged one of the countries with a very strong national institution,and it is one of the role models on the African continent.The commission was undergoing restructuring where by the commissioners would get more involved in the human rights issues of specific groups such as women, internally displaced people, childrenrather than the day to day management issues of the commission.