By Henry MULINDWA
The Chairperson Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) Adv. Mariam Wangadya has advised security agencies to observe human rights even when they’re dealing with terrorism challenge.
She noted that if the country trades away human rights in the name of security, it hands what she called victory to terror without a fight.
“No nation will ever arrest or detain its way to peace. We must be brave enough to say what many avoid: Security that tramples rights is not security. It is repression. And repression feeds the very violence we seek to prevent” Wangadya said during the opening of UNOCT workshop on Human Rights and Gender Equality in Counter Terrorism.
The workshop was held under the theme ‘Human Rights and Gender Equality in Counter Terrorism, Key Challenges and Way forward’ at the Uganda Police Force Counter Terrorism Resource Center in Kampala.
She praised the dialogue as very crucial and long overdue.
“This is more than a workshop. It is a reckoning. A dialogue we have long needed. And a commitment we must now honor—with action. We are gathered here to discuss terrorism. To confront it. To outthink it. But above all, to do so without compromising the very values terrorism seeks to destroy” she noted.
Wangadya noted that the workshop wasn’t only reviewing legal frameworks or operational practices but also shaping the ethical spine of Uganda’s counter-terrorism response.
PROCEDURAL QUESTIONS
According to her, the intriguing question is how prepared Uganda is willing to bend the law in the face of fear.
Wangadya posed three procedural aspects which she described as a litmus test for security agencies as they deal with terrorism threats.
One is that of 48-hour Rule for charging terrorism suspects, saying this isn’t a mere technicality but a constitutional safeguard.
Wangadya said this rule is actually a test of state accountability and a reminder that even in moments of fear, the law still reigns.
“If we hold a suspect longer than 48 hours without charge, we may be seen as violating justice. Even if the suspect is guilty. Even if the threat is real. Because due process is not a luxury of peace. It is the foundation of it. Let us remember: A just state does not fear fair trials” she noted.
She challenged security agencies to reflect candidly on the operational realities in Uganda, noting that whereas the 48-hour may be achievable on paper, but in practice, the system can struggle to meet this demand.
“We must be careful not to set ourselves up for procedural failure. Let us work toward building the capacity and infrastructure necessary to honour such timelines faithfully or else we risk undermining both the spirit and the letter of the law” she noted.
Another procedural issue she cited is the 72-hour rule for Digital Seizures, noting that in today’s world, digital devices carry people’s lives. She therefore, opined that for security to seize them, this translates into holding someone’s identity in their hands.
“This power must be exercised with the utmost restraint. And under the strictest legal and ethical standards.We must ask hard questions: Who accesses the data? How long is it kept? What checks exist to prevent abuse?Terrorism should never be a pretext for mass surveillance. Our digital rights are human rights. And every intrusion must meet the test of necessity, proportionality, and legality” Wangadya urged.
The other issue of concern she raised was to do with a situation where suspects are also victims of trafficking.
“Because behind some terror suspects, we find children abducted, women coerced, and youth indoctrinated.Victims forced into violence, then punished for the chains they never chose. The criminal justice system must be wise enough to distinguish threat from trauma. It must know when to prosecute and when to protect” she advised.
The lady from Masaabaland noted that issues like these strike at the heart of what it means to uphold human rights while under pressure. This is because they demand courage not only from security officers, but from all stakeholders including prosecutors, judges, political leaders and the media not forgetting the Uganda Human Rights Commission.
“It is not enough to observe abuses after they happen. We must be proactive guardians of human dignity. We must embed human rights in every briefing. In every arrest. In every courtroom. In every investigation. Not as an afterthought but as a principle. Because it is only when our methods are just that our mission becomes legitimate” she said.
Wangadya cited the Uganda Police and office of the Director of Public Prosecutions whose roles she compared to those of UHRC which she said are all difficult.
She said while these agencies carry the burden of security in the face of very real threats, they need not to worry because the law is there to guide them.
“And the people’s trust is your strength. Use it well. No law-abiding Ugandan should ever fear your power. They should draw confidence from it. Terrorists sow fear. You must not replicate it. You must replace it with justice” she guided.
Wangadya commended development partners for their continued support which she said has been more transformational.
“A country’s character is revealed not in calm, but in crisis. This is our test. The temptation will always be to trade liberty for security. But history is clear: Once freedom is lost in fear, it is rarely recovered. Let us choose the harder path. The principled path. The path of law, not shortcuts. Of rights, not repression. Of protection, not punishment” she advised.
She summed up her presentation by calling for a Uganda becoming a model not just for how we it defeats terror, but for how it does it without losing a soul.
“A nation’s greatness is not measured by how it treats the powerful, but how it treats the vulnerable even those accused of terrible things.The measure of our security lies not in the number of arrests, but in the number of rights upheld. And justice, when done rightly, does not need to shout. It simply stands firm, unwavering, and dignified” she said.