In a public statement, the UHRC made its findings public and ordered the immediate release of the suspects. The UHRC has organized major workshops on the issue of prison reform, inviting human rights activists, prison and police officials, the Uganda Law Society and other interested parties. Commissioner Karusoke, who is in charge of prison issues at the UHRC, gave a detailed and accurate overview of the dismal prison conditions in Uganda during a meeting with Human Rights Watch in April 1998. The UHRC has investigated many cases of torture and illegal detention, and has made its findings public in its annual report and occasionally through press releases. For example, the UHRC 1997 annual report documents several cases of torture of detainees in prison as well as the unconscionably long pre-trial detention to which some prisoners are subjected, sometimes amounting to more than ten years.
Long remands form the most serious human rights violation in our prisons.
Long remands without trial are a direct violation of the right to a speedy trial and fair hearing . . . . In June 1997 Patrick Gweri had been on remand in Katojo prison since 1987 on a charge of robbery. In the same prison Bagonza Wilberforce and Nyakahuma Mohammed had been held without trial since 1991. Kabuliteka Gideon and two others who have been held since 1991 . . . . Another case worth citing is that of Frenjo Olima, who was taken to Arua prison from Maracha in 1984 by the administration on charges of murder.