A Ugandan court has declined to release the passport of a novelist and critic of President Yoweri Museveni to allow him to seek treatment abroad after being allegedly tortured in detention.
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arrested in December and charged with offensive communication for reportedly calling Mr Museveni’s son – the army General Muhoozi Kainerugaba – “obese”.
A chief magistrate said a medical report showed for Rukirabashaija there were local options for the writer’s treatment.
The European Union condemned the alleged torture and other rights abuses by the country’s security agencies.
“The arbitrary arrest of people by security services, holding them in ungazetted places of detention for prolonged periods of time, torturing them, not bringing them before a court within the mandatory time limits, are violations of Uganda’s national legislation, regional and international commitments as well as specific presidential guidelines,” the EU said in a statement.
It followed similar concerns raised by the US government over “recurring” rights abuses in Uganda.
The Ugandan government has faced many previous accusations of arrest and torture of individuals who are opposed to, or critical of, the administration.
President Museveni has in the past called for the denial of bail to suspects of capital offences – a move critics say was intended to stifle dissent and target critics for prolonged detention.
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