Военная разведка Уганды подтвердила факт пыток и арестовала офицера по делу журналиста

KAMPALA — Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo has said an investigation by military intelligence officials found Stephen Nuwagaba’s allegations of torture credible and led to the arrest of an officer accused of carrying out the abuse, offering new details about a case that has triggered a public dispute involving President Yoweri Museveni and journalist Andrew Mwenda. Opiyo, who represented Nuwagaba through Chapter Four Uganda, said the young man approached the rights organisation with visible injuries, including marks on his feet, elbow and the soles of his feet, and walked with a limp. “Stephen was a client who approached us at Chapter Four Uganda claiming he was a victim/survivor of torture,” Opiyo said. “He had visible marks of torture on his feet, elbow, and soles of his feet. He walked with a limp.” Opiyo was responding to comments by Mwenda on the Bad Natives Podcast, saying the journalist had “mixed up a lot of facts” about his involvement in Nuwagaba’s case. He said Chapter Four initially hesitated to pursue a civil claim because Nuwagaba had limited documentation supporting his allegations, and instead sought a criminal investigation into the people he accused of torturing him. According to Opiyo, Chapter Four first reported the allegations to the Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters in Kibuli, which advised the organisation to report the case to the security institution concerned. Opiyo said they subsequently approached the then deputy commandant of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Brig. Abdul Rugumayo. “The Deputy CMI boss, Rugumayo, and officer Frank Nyakairu investigated the claims and found them credible,” Opiyo said. “They arrested the CMI officer who committed the acts of torture but were dillydallying on the issue of the return of Stephen’s property.” The military has not publicly detailed the findings of the investigation or the circumstances of the alleged officer’s arrest. Opiyo said it was during efforts to recover Nuwagaba’s property that the young man asked to be connected to Gen. Salim Saleh, President Museveni’s brother and a senior presidential adviser. “I sent Saleh an email narrating the claims of torture and asked him to help in investigating it since it involved security officials,” Opiyo said. He said he never personally met Saleh but exchanged emails with him about the case. Opiyo’s account differs on several points from an earlier narrative presented by Mwenda, who said Nuwagaba visited Saleh in Gulu on March 17, 2025, after being sent to him by the human rights lawyer. Opiyo also said efforts to meet the then CMI chief, Maj. Gen. James Birungi, repeatedly failed because calls and messages went unanswered. He said colleagues subsequently advised them to approach Mwenda because of his relationship with Birungi. “On Andrew’s cell, I spoke to Birungi,” Opiyo said. “I never met Birungi and do not know what he looks like in person.” Opiyo said he later learnt that Nuwagaba met Birungi and was compensated, had his phones and laptops returned and was issued a passport. “That is where our engagement with the case ended,” he said. The new account comes after Museveni publicly said Nuwagaba came under his care as an alleged victim of torture and maiming by elements of Uganda’s security services. Museveni said some of the people accused of torturing Nuwagaba were facing charges in court and disclosed that he had instituted a “quiet investigation” into the broader allegations. The President also strongly condemned torture, saying it was “immoral, counter-revolutionary, not strategic and not necessary” and warning the UPDF and other security agencies that fighting criminality did not give them licence to commit torture or extra-judicial killings. The Nuwagaba affair has generated competing accounts over how he came into contact with senior government officials, the nature of the alleged torture and his subsequent access to State House and security officials. Opiyo’s account, however, adds a significant element to the dispute: his assertion that military intelligence itself investigated Nuwagaba’s original allegations, considered them credible and arrested an officer accused of carrying out the torture.