Urgent Action 9-20-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa20510.pdf

20 September 2010

Further information on UA 205/10 (17 September 2010) - Risk of torture and other ill-treatment / Legal concern

UGANDA Mbugua Mureithi (m) lawyer
Al-Amin Kimathi (m) human rights activist

Kenyan lawyer Mbugua Mureithi was released from police custody in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on 18 September and was immediately deported to Kenya. Human rights activist Al-Amin Kimathi continues to be held incommunicado without charge or access to legal representation.

Mbugua Mureithi and Al-Amin Kimathi were arrested by Ugandan police and immigration officials on arrival in Entebbe, in southern Uganda, on 15 September. The two men had travelled to Uganda from Kenya to represent at least three Kenyans arrested in connection with the 11 July 2010 bombings in Kampala.

Al-Amin Kimathi, of the Kenyan human rights organization, the Muslim Human Rights Forum, is being held incommunicado at the Ugandan police's Rapid Response Unit Headquarters in Kireka, Kampala. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Amnesty International fears that his arrest and continued detention is due to his work as a legal representative of some of the people charged in relation to the July bombings.

Due to their arrest and detention, the two men have not had a chance to meet with their clients who are charged with offenses including murder and terrorism, punishable by death under Ugandan law. The court case involving their clients has continued in their absence.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On 11 July 2010, over 76 people were killed and hundreds injured as a result of bombings by unknown people at two different public venues in Uganda's capital, Kampala. Following criminal investigations in Uganda and Kenya, in the last few weeks over 30 people of different nationalities, including Ugandan, Kenyan and Somali, have been arrested in connection with the bombings and charged with criminal offenses, including murder, terrorism and attempted murder. The trial process remains ongoing.

Amnesty International has documented the unlawful transfer of suspects from Kenya to Uganda, and the incommunicado detention and allegations of ill-treatment of a number of the suspects who all remain in detention. In addition, we are concerned about the impact that the intense publicity about alleged confessions may have on the fairness of the trials.

Amnesty International, the Uganda Human Rights Commission and local human rights organisations have, in the past, documented reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees at the hands of Uganda police officers.

The right to a fair trial, including the right to legal assistance is provided for in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, both of which Uganda is party. These rights are also provided for under Article 28 of the Ugandan Constitution.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the immediate release of Al-Amin Kimathi, unless he is promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offense and brought before a court.
- Calling on the Inspector General of Police and Minister for Internal Affairs to ensure that he has access to his lawyer and family.
- Calling on the Inspector General of Police and Minister for Internal Affairs to ensure that both men have unhindered access as legal representatives to their clients.
- Calling on the Ugandan authorities to ensure that any measures taken to investigate, prosecute and bring to justice alleged perpetrators of the July 2010 bombings fully comply with international human rights law and standards and the Ugandan Constitution.



APPEALS TO:

Inspector General of Police
Major General Kale Kayihura
Uganda Police Force,
Nsambya Police Headquarters
PO BOX 7055,
Kampala
UGANDA
Fax: 011 256 414 342 985
Salutation: Dear Major General

Minister of Internal Affairs
Hon Ali Kirunda Kivejinja
Ministry of Internal Affairs
PO Box 7191, Kampala
UGANDA
Fax: 011 256 414 343 088
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Professor Perezi Karukubiro Kamunanwire
Embassy of the Republic of Uganda
5911 16th St. NW
Washington DC 20011
Fax: 1 202 726 1727
Email: pkamunanwire@ugandaembassyus.org
OR
info@ugandaembassyus.org


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 1 November 2010.


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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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