the Supreme Court ruling on the death sentence in Uganda drew conflicting interpretations from the legal fraternity and human rights activists

the Supreme Court ruling on the death sentence in Uganda drew conflicting interpretations from the legal fraternity and human rights activists.
The court ruled that the condemned person should be hanged within the three years after his sentence has been confirmed by the highest court or he will have his sentence commuted to life.
The ruling came after  more than 400 inmates on death row contested the constitutionality of the death sentence, the long time spent on death row and the use of hanging. Currently, there are 699 condemned prisoners.
Principal Justice James Ogoola said “for long, courts will be deciding what was really meant.” Supreme Court registrar Henrietta Wolayo said the ruling had many implications because there are different categories of people involved.
The acting director of civil litigation, Robinah Rwakoojo, said the ruling can immediately apply but advised the Government to come up with a law to strengthen the ruling.
Livingstone Ssewanyana, the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, said death row convicts who are not hanged within three years would be imprisoned for life. Currently, those convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment serve only 20 years in prison and are freed.
Lawyers said the ruling was not clear on whether the President will have powers to pardon death row convicts after they have stayed in prison for over three years. They said it was also unclear whether the judgment would benefit prisoners who have been in jail already for over three years.
Human rights activists described the ruling as unconstitutional.