In the first attempt ever, over 200 inmates on death...

In the first attempt ever, over 200 inmates on death row in Uganda signed a constitutional petition to eliminate the death penalty from the country's laws. The inmates instructed a team of 15 Kampala lawyers, led by John Katende of Katende, Sempebwa and Company Advocates and Peter Walubiri to file the petition in the Constitutional Court. One of the lawyers on the team, who declined to be named, said that they had carried out interviews with the inmates and collected other evidence to support the petition. The source said former Toro Kingdom Prime Minister John Sanyu Katuramu and former security minister Chris Rwakasisi were among the 260 inmates interviewed at Luzira maximum security prison. "Some of the controversial inmates interviewed will not be put on the list of the petitioners to avoid the danger of politicising the petition," the lawyer said. The lawyer said the petition would be filed in a month's time based on the grounds that the death penalty is inhuman, degrading and contravenes Article 24 of the Constitution. Article 24 states: "No person shall be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."