The Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) has strongly denied allegations that opposition stalwart Kizza Besigye is facing inhumane treatment at Luzira Upper Maximum Security Prison, calling the claims baseless and politically driven.
Reports from opposition leaders and members of Besigye’s family have alleged that the former presidential candidate is being held in isolation and subjected to degrading conditions, including the supposed use of bedbugs as a form of torture.
“These claims are not only false but also internally contradictory,” said Frank Baine, Senior Commissioner of Prisons and UPS spokesperson.
“How can someone be said to be in permanent isolation while also sharing a ward with 15 others?”
Baine further rubbished the bedbug allegations as “grossly false,” asserting that critics were intentionally distorting facts for political mileage.
“We urge the public to disregard this disinformation,” he said, emphasizing that UPS upholds Ugandan laws and international standards, including the United Nations’ Nelson Mandela Rules on the treatment of prisoners.
Dr. Besigye has been in custody since his arrest in November 2024, after what his allies described as an abduction in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside his associate Obeid Lutale.
The pair were arraigned before the General Court Martial on terrorism-related charges.
Although the Supreme Court ruled on January 31, 2025, that civilians cannot be tried in military courts, Besigye remains incarcerated as government moves to amend the Constitution to reinstate military trials for civilians.
In May, President Museveni signed into law the UPDF Amendment Act, a move widely criticized by human rights advocates.
Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate and prominent government critic, has spent over seven months in detention without trial.
His repeated bail applications have been denied, raising concerns among civil society and political observers over the erosion of due process and fair trial rights.