Rights tribunal dismisses 9 of 11 complaints in West Nile

The Uganda Human Rights Commissions (UHRC) Tribunal has dismissed nine of the 11 matters handled in the West Nile region.

The tribunal commenced hearing of human rights violations matters in West Nile from June 30, to July 1, 2025.

It handled seven complaints related to the right to life, two were personal liberty, and the rest were torture complaints.

Tribunal head, also UHRC chairperson Mariam Wangadya, in a sitting at the Arua Regional Human Rights office in Arua city dismissed nine of the cases brought against the Attorney General due to non-disclosure of cause of action and lack of intentionality to terminate life by the security personal implicated in the alleged shootings with one case dismissed due to insanity of the complainant.

Meanwhile, two of the cases are still ongoing.

While many of the complainants visibly seemed disappointed with the judgment, the tribunal contends that those dissatisfied with their decision can appeal to the High Court for further redress.

Lillian Adiru, a 39 year old complainant. (Credit: Robert Adiga)

Poline Nansaba Mutumba, the director complaints, investigations and legal services at UHRC, says in all the cases, the circumstances under which all the deaths arose were not consistent with the intentional killing, the key pursuant of the tribunal advising the dissatisfied complainants to seek other alternative legal remedies.

“Article 22 talks about the intentional killing and that means that we are required to show that the actions of the security officers were careless, arbitrary among others and so most of the cases that were dismissed the challenge was that the circumstances in which the deaths arose do not constitute intentional killing and that is the legal issue that we battled but it does not mean that the death has not occurred but for purposes of the human rights issue, the killings must intentional,” Mutumba said.

While expressing her dissatisfaction with the ruling of the tribunal, Lillian Adiru, a 39-year-old complainant who lost a 17-year-old son in a Police shooting in 2017 in Arua city, wondered whether the tribunal was meant to help the victims or the Government.
She argued that the fact that her innocent son, Godfrey Anguyo, was shot by a Police officer while rescuing a suspected thief from the mob tantamount to an abuse of the right to life.

"Indeed, my son was shot when he was not part of the crowd in the mob action and indeed he was shot by the Police and I wonder what kind of intention they were looking at so I left everything to God now because I thought I was coming to them for help but if that I their decision I leave everything to God now since there is no hope of justice again,” Adiru said.