AI Index : AFR 59/001/2006
UA 05/06
UGANDA : Joel Lubangakene (m), soldier
06 January 2006
Private Joel Lubangakene was sentenced to death by hanging by a military court on 2 January, for reportedly shooting dead an 18-year-old student on 26 December in northern Uganda. Some reports indicate that Lubangakene could be executed on 8 January. President Museveni has the power to commute the sentence.
Lubangakene reportedly claimed he had shot the student, 18-year-old Ojok Ojara, on the orders of his commanding officer, which he could not disobey. However, the court apparently agreed with the prosecutor that soldiers were only bound to obey lawful orders, while this order would have been unlawful ; and also that Lubangakene had been lying, as he had not been ordered to shoot Ojara, but had done so « maliciously ».
The hearing, before an 11-member court, took place inside the Lalogi internally displaced people’s camp, where Ojara was reportedly shot.
The Lalogi camp is home to some 300,000 people who have been forced to flee their homes by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, which has been operating in the region since the mid-1980s.
RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language :
urging President Museveni to commute the death sentence of Private Joel Lubangakene, who is reportedly due to be executed imminently.
APPEALS TO :
President
Kaguta Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic
Office of the President of Uganda, Parliament Building
PO Box 7168, Kampala, Uganda
Fax : +256 41 346102
Email : aak statehouse.go.ug
Salutation : Your Excellency
COPIES TO :
Attorney General and Minister of Justice
Hon. Kiddhu Makubuya
Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs
Parliament Avenue
P.O.Box 7183, Kampala, Uganda
Fax : +256 41 254829
Email : mojca africaonline.co.ug
Salutation : Dear Minister
Commander of the Ugandan Army
Lieutenant-General Aronda Nyakairima, P.O. Box 132, Bombo
Fax : +256 41 356641
Salutation : Dear Sir
AMBASSADE OUGANDA
AV. DE TERVUEREN / TERVURENLAAN, 317 1150 WOLUWE-SAINT-PIERRE
FAX 02.763.04.38 , Email : ugembrus brutele.be
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
