The opposition National Unity Platform party leaders and relatives of the missing supporters stormed the offices of the Uganda Human Rights Commission in Kampala on Thursday.
Top NUP leaders, including Secretary General Luis Rubongoya, MP Joel Ssenyonyi, and the spokesperson, among others, led the angry supporters and filed a fresh petition demanding immediate action to find the whereabouts of their missing persons.
MP Ssenyonyi said the new petition seeks to remind UHRC to ascertain the whereabouts of their missing supporters.
He says the missing persons are more than 18, contrary to a report issued by UHRC Chairperson Mariam Wangadya, who claims she is just biassed and does not know how to fight for and protect the rights of Ugandans.
Rubongoya said that the families of the missing persons have been shattered due to the actions of the ruling government, which has continuously abducted and tortured innocent Ugandans.
“Some families have been separated from their loved ones, which has caused women to abandon their marital homes, children dropping out and joining theft gangs, and opting for drugs, to mention but a few,” said Rubongoya.
The relatives of the missing persons later assembled at the commission headquarters in Nakasero, Uganda, to present evidence and proof that the people they couldn’t trace exist. With them were national IDs, passports, and other documents to verify the existence of the alleged missing persons.
Alex Bakumune, the spokesperson for UHRC, confirmed that NUP filed a separate petition on Thursday, October 12th.
Bakumune said he was aware that some people who wanted their cases closed are now interested in reopening them.
“If those people whose files were closed with consent want them to be re-opened, UHRC has no problem re-opening the cases,“ he added.
On October 10, 2023, UHRC released a report of alleged missing NUP supporters. Of the 30 people reported missing, 12 have been found in their homes, alive and well, while the other 18 were untraceable.
