UPDF Spokesman: Ignore Human Rights Watch Report on UPDF

A UPDF Spokesperson has responded to claims that the ICC has been "compromised and biased" in failing to investigate crimes that the UPDF has committed.

Crimes Against Humanity in Congo
The list of UPDF's transgressions is long, starting with a guilty verdict by the International Court of Justice for crimes UPDF committed in the Congo and fined billions.

This Has Happened Before, UN Report Blocked in 2007
A report on Karamoja detailing UPDF's extensive human rights violations upon Ugandan citizens was prevented from being presented at the UN last year.

Apologists for Uganda are also protecting its army from serious allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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ARTICLE EXCERPTS:

New Vision (Kampala) | OPINION |28 July 2008| By Chris Magezi, UPDF Spokesperson

"HUMAN Rights Watch, a human rights body based in the US, claimed in its latest report that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had been "compromised and biased" and deliberately omitted to investigate the UPDF for suspected atrocities committed in northern Uganda alongside the LRA.

It is belittling to the ICC to suggest that their independence, competence and impartiality can be compromised by mere provision of "armed escorts" for travel in the region. One of the constitutional mandates of the UPDF and other security agencies is to protect the lives of our people and their property. During the years of terror by the LRA, the UPDF escorted civilians and foreign aid workers operating in the region, including ICC staff.

The UPDF has in the past publicly executed some of its soldiers for capital offences. Many others are serving long jail sentences, while several others have been dismissed with disgrace.

The UPDF has carried out its constitutional duty of protecting Ugandan citizens and their property well."

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