KAMPALA. The minister of state for East African Affairs Julius Maganda has dismissed reports that some members of parliament were tortured in the recent Arua fracas that marred the just concluded Arua By-election.
Addressing civil society leaders from the East African region at a conference to advance their civic space, Maganda said the legislators were instead harassed and beaten.
“I think torture is a process, the experience my colleagues have undertaken may not at this time be pronounced as torture, they could have been beaten but torture might not be beating,” said Maganda.
He adds that much as he condemns the alleged torture of these MPs, there is need to probe circumstances under which the MPs became victims of torture.
“Leave alone what happened, are we talking about what caused the MPs to reach at the level they were beaten,” added Maganda.
His comments come at a time the adhoc committee report released by parliament yesterday confirmed that there were some levels of illegal detention and torture in Arua.
Daily Monitor
