Members of Parliament on the Human Rights committee have castigated Farouk Nyede the Principal Human Rights Officer in charge of greater Masaka sub-region for failing to document human rights violations that occurred in the area during the recent general election.
While appearing before the committee investigating reports of human rights violations in the area on Thursday, Nyende was castigated for ignoring violations that resulted into deaths of some people.
The committee, chaired by Bugiri Woman MP Agnes Taaka Wejuli listened to testimonies from persons who suffered various forms of violations during and after the campaigns including; victims of arrests and torture, those who sustained wounds from gunshots and relatives of missing persons.
Legislators however noted that the majority of the incidents, some of which resulted in death, were never documented or even investigated by the Human Rights Commission office in the area.
The committee also heard from witnesses, that the Human Rights Commission Officers in Masaka have never taken interest in the recurrent violations even when the victims made them public.
National Unity Platform-NUP registrar for Masaka City Joseph Kasirye also presented before the committee a list of 25 people he says are still missing after their arrest by security agencies.
He further revealed that shortly after the declaration of presidential election results, the army took over security in many parts of the region and engaged in acts of gross human rights violation against people suspected not to support the ruling government.
His submission was supported by Michael Mulindwa, the Chairperson of the Nyendo-Mukungwe division of Masaka city who told MPs that many of the victims of torture and other forms of human rights violations are suffering from within their homes without any assistance and pursuit for justice.
However, Nyende argued that many of the said victims had not formally complained to the Human Rights Commission to commence investigations as their operations largely rely on the proactiveness of the community members registering complaints with the commission to follow-up on them.
The Committee Chairperson tasked him to compile a comprehensive report about all violations in his area of jurisdiction and submit a detailed report within three weeks.
