The High Court in Kampala has ordered the government to pay Shs40 million in general damages to four environmental activists who were unlawfully detained beyond the constitutional 48-hour limit following their arrest during an anti-EACOP protest.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Collins Acellam through the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS), found that the state violated the applicants’ fundamental right to personal liberty. Each of the four activists will receive Shs10 million.
The activists-Alphonse Nkurunziza, Vicent Lubega Nsamba, Gerald Wenani, and David Musiri-are members of the pressure group Rooted in Resistance. They were arrested in Kampala on October 4, 2022, while marching to the European Union (EU) offices to deliver a petition opposing the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
Following their arrest, the group was held at the Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) until October 10, 2022, spending six days in custody without being presented before a competent court.
In his judgment, Justice Acellam emphasized that the state’s actions directly contravened the supreme law of the land.
“The court found that the applicants’ detention for six days without being produced before the court within forty-eight hours contravened Article 23(4) of the Constitution and violated their right to personal liberty,” Justice Acellam ruled. ‘I award each applicant general damages in the sum of Shs10,000,000.’
Article 23(4) of the Ugandan Constitution strictly mandates that a person arrested or detained upon suspicion of committing a criminal offense must be brought to court no later than 48 hours from the time of arrest, if not earlier released.
While the court agreed on the illegality of the detention, the activists suffered a setback regarding their claims of physical abuse. In their affidavits, the applicants alleged that they were severely tortured, beaten, and denied access to legal representation during their stay in custody. They subsequently requested the court to award punitive damages.
However, Justice Acellam declined to grant punitive awards, citing a lack of substantial proof. The judge noted that the applicants failed to provide medical reports, treatment notes, independent eyewitness affidavits, or any other cogent corroborative material to establish the nature and extent of the alleged physical injuries.
Speaking to Monitor following the receipt of the ruling, the activists’ lawyer, Mr Eron Kiiza, expressed mixed feelings about the court’s decision. While he welcomed the financial compensation for illegal detention, he criticized the court’s leniency regarding the alleged torture.
“The award is not sufficient since we don’t have punitive damages in a clear case of unconstitutional conduct that should be discouraged by punitive fines,” Mr Kiiza stated, adding that dismissing the torture claims leaves the victims without full justice.
Nevertheless, Mr. Kiiza noted that the ruling serves as a stern warning to law enforcement agencies.
“This ruling will wake up the security forces and the judiciary against illegal detentions. There is an urgent need to recognize freedom of expression by environmental activists, peaceful protestors, and human rights defenders without criminalizing them,” he added.
Growing pattern of legal rebounds
This is not the first time the High Court has penalized the state over its handling of anti-EACOP protestors. On April 27, the same court ordered the government to pay Shs10 million each to three other environmental activists who were similarly held beyond the 48-hour threshold following their arrest on November 24, 2023.
The multi-billion-dollar EACOP project, intended to transport crude oil from western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, remains a flashpoint for intense local and international environmental protests, often met with heavy-handed policing.