Communication 431/12 – Thomas Kwoyelo v. Uganda
Communication 431/12 – Thomas Kwoyelo v. Uganda
Summary of the Complaint:
1. The Complaint was received by the Secretariat of the African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Secretariat) on 19 October 2012. The Complaint is
filed by Onyango & Company Advocates (the Complainant) on behalf of Mr
Thomas Kwoyelo (the Victim) against the Republic of Uganda (the Respondent
State or the Respondent), State Party to the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter or the Charter).1
2. It is alleged that the Victim was a child soldier, abducted by the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA) in 1987 in Northern Uganda. In March 2009, following the collapse of
the Juba Peace Talks, it is claimed that the Victim was shot and severely wounded
on the battlefield in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
3. The Complainant further alleges that the Victim was abducted from a hospital
while recovering from his injuries and taken to a private residence in Uganda,
where he was subjected to torture and inhumane treatment for three months. He
was also allegedly denied access to legal counsel and next of kin. In June 2009 and
August 2010, he was charged with several offences under the Ugandan Penal Code
and the Ugandan Geneva Conventions Act of 1964 respectively.
4. The Complainant states that the Victim applied for amnesty under Uganda’s 2000
Amnesty Act. In its decision, the Amnesty Commission declared the Victim was
eligible for amnesty, but Uganda’s Director of Public Prosecutions (the DPP)
refused to issue an amnesty certificate. The matter was brought to the attention of
the Ugandan Constitutional Court in September 2011 by Constitutional Reference
No.36 of 2011, and the Court decided that the Victim qualified for amnesty and
was denied equal protection by the Government of Uganda. The Complainant
1
The Republic of Uganda ratified the African Charter on 10 May 1986.
1
62nd Ordinary Session, 25 April – 9 July 2018