“This judgment risks legitimizing Uganda’s well-documented record of torture instead of eradicating it,” Asiimwe said, adding that the ruling prioritized the completion of criminal trials over the absolute prohibition of torture.
The DNA testing process was conducted by government forensic experts and overseen by Minister Balaam Barugahara. Also present during the release of the results were the Police Forensic Directorate and the Government Analytical Laboratory, including Director Andrew Mubiru and Kepher Kuchana Kateu.
In December 2023, three children aged between 8 and 11 years drowned in a gold mine pit filled with water in Busia district when they had gone swimming in the isolated and unguarded dumping site.