The Ugandan Constitutional Court ruled that the UPDF...
The Ugandan Constitutional Court ruled that the UPDF (Uganda's People's Defence Forces) might continue executing convicts sentenced to death by the army's field court martial
The Ugandan Constitutional Court ruled that the UPDF (Uganda's People's Defence Forces) might continue executing convicts sentenced to death by the army's field court martial.
The Uganda Law Society and Mr Jackson Karugaba had applied to the Constitutional Court to temporarily suspend a section in the 1992 National Resistance Army Statute that allows the army to execute convicts from the field court martial.
They wanted the section to be suspended pending the disposal of the main petition that is challenging the constitutionality of the Army Statute.
The section allows the Field Court Martial to pass death sentences without a right of appeal. The Law Society, represented by Philip Karugaba, argued that more UPDF soldiers could be executed in the Field Court Martial before the Constitutional Court ruled on the fate of the statute.
Mr Cheborion Barishaki, the commissioner for Civil Litigation representing the State, opposed the application for a temporary injunction against the death sentences arguing that they were needed as a disciplinary measure to help in stopping errant soldiers from deserting frontlines in operational areas and to prevent cowardice in combat action.
The Uganda Law Society and Mr Jackson Karugaba had applied to the Constitutional Court to temporarily suspend a section in the 1992 National Resistance Army Statute that allows the army to execute convicts from the field court martial.
They wanted the section to be suspended pending the disposal of the main petition that is challenging the constitutionality of the Army Statute.
The section allows the Field Court Martial to pass death sentences without a right of appeal. The Law Society, represented by Philip Karugaba, argued that more UPDF soldiers could be executed in the Field Court Martial before the Constitutional Court ruled on the fate of the statute.
Mr Cheborion Barishaki, the commissioner for Civil Litigation representing the State, opposed the application for a temporary injunction against the death sentences arguing that they were needed as a disciplinary measure to help in stopping errant soldiers from deserting frontlines in operational areas and to prevent cowardice in combat action.
— SOURCES
- (Sources: The Monitor, 01/04/2003)