In most places visited by FHRI, parents, guardians and the Secretary for Children’s Affairs are not promptly informed of children’s arrests. Subsequently many children appear in court unaccompanied and the magistrate is forced to deny them bail and remand the children.
Anna, 15 years
She hails from Mutundwe,Kirinyabigo. She is accused of attempted murder. She was arrested and brought to the police by her grandmother with whom she lives on Friday 17 July 2009. A neighbour called Nalubowa Daisy asked her to borrow a book and she handed it over. Later she realised the book had money. When she was asked about the book she denied having it but later after getting it back from Nalubowa she returned it but the money was gone. Nalubowa gave her some powder wrapped in a paper and told her to put it in the drinking water that it will do away with the allegations of theft. Her grandmother then realised that the water was smelling poison. On asking her she confessed to the grandmother and then she was brought to the police. She informed the police that she is below 18 but nothing has been done and she is being held at the same cell with adults and worse with Nalubowa who gave her the poison. She claims she is being tortured by Nalubowa and another inmate (doesn’t know her name). She fears to tell the police.
Roger, 14 years
He was allegedly charged with theft and was brought to Naguru remand home. He alleged that from the time of his arrest to date (June 2 2009) his parents were never informed and do not know of his whereabouts.
Alex, 15 years
He is from Bitooma village and was charged with theft of a bunch of bananas. He was being detained at Rukukuru remand home and was sentenced to 2 months at the time of FHRIs visit (May 2009).He had served 1 month.
Felix, 15 years
He is from Bushenyi and was detained at Rukururu remand home. He was charged with theft of a mattress and was sentenced to 2 months. At the time of FHRIs visit, he had served 2 weeks.
Case Studies under the Promoting Sustainable Access to Justice for women and children living in socially deprived situations in Uganda (2008-2010) Project
Location of Project action: Kalangala, Kasese, Kiboga, Lira, Sembabule and Busia.
Overall Objective: To enhance sustainable access to justice for vulnerable and poor women and children living in socially deprived situations in Uganda.
The baseline surveys conducted in the aforementioned districts targeted selected groups of people to represent the targeted persons (women and children) and the following areas of focus were handled:
Gender based violence:
95% of the respondents were not able to clearly distinguish between domestic violence and gender based violence. Respondents mainly looked at violence in their homes as gender based violence and did not look at gender based violence outside home. The most common form of gender based violence is battering /beating. FHRI discovered that through interviews held with most women. Below are some of the cases that show the plight of women in districts visited:
‘‘Beating and kicking are now normal to me because that is what I go through every night when my husband comes home. I am now used to it but what worries me is that he has started threatening to kill me!
A 29 year old woman at Kachanga Landing Site
He beats me every night and in most cases I am unable to come out of bed in the morning but have to force myself out because I have to work so as to provide for myself and the children.’’
At Kasekulo, a 28 year old woman who has been married for 14 years and sells alcohol for her livelihood.
The men drink from morning to evening and when they come back home, they quarrel over small issues, beat their children and wives sometimes using dangerous weapons like guns and arrows…
A respondent from Akadocwat village, Lira district laments.
‘My husband used to beat me using a big stick, but one day we got a big disagreement, he beat me and later got out his arrow and threw it at me and it pierced my chest.
A 25 year old inmate at Lira Women prison narrates.
Denial of Right to own property:
In Busia district, *Nekesa, a 70 year old widow was chased away from her matrimonial home by her own son under the pretext that women are not supposed to own land under the Samia culture.
Jesca, a 21 year old widow in Budimbo village, Kiboga district is a victim of bad cultural beliefs that a woman with girl children is entitled to no property upon her husband’s death:
‘My husband got involved in a car accident, shortly after his death, I gave birth to a baby girl. My sister in-law later came back home and took all the property and chased me out of our house.’
Defilement:
A District Police Commander in Kalangala District said that defilement cases at landing sites are common. Cases of young girls defiled by more than one man are many. The young girls aged 7 – 17 years are in most cases waylaid by their assailants when coming from school or going to fetch water. Some girls are defiled by their fathers in exchange of support like scholastic materials. On average 5 cases of defilement are reported at a landing site in Kalangala district every month.
The 14 year old Nalubega in primary six at Tubi, Kalangala district, narrates amidst sobs: ‘One morning I asked my father for books and money for porridge, he told me he does not believe in giving free things to women, so he rudely told me to undress and we played sex…’’
Liberata Omach, Inspector of schools, Lira district observes that:
Outside the school boundary, men including drug abusers, motor (boda boda) cyclists waylay these young girls and defile them.
Child prostitution
Busia District Education Officer had this to say; ‘‘Busia needs divine intervention because children as young as 9 years engage in prostitution; this is alarming to the district authorities and the nation’’
Denial of Right to Education
Some of the parents who take their children to school do not meet small extra costs like money for porridge for their children in school.
Kulubya, a fisherman at Kachanga landing site, Kalangala district comments; Three thousand shillings (3,000/=) for porridge a term is so much money! I can’t pay it!
At Sembabule Parents’ Primary School, a 13 year old P.6 pupil says; ‘I missed school for a whole year and had to repeat P.6 this year because it was my turn to take care of the cows at home.
Seven year old Naiga Gorrette, the eldest out of 4 children, laments how she dropped out of Primary Two to take care of her ill mother after her father died of HIV/ AIDS. She now takes care of the entire family.
