Government has fired a warning shot at what it calls “media misreporting” over the controversial issue of civilians being tried in military courts.
In a dramatic press briefing, ICT Minister Dr. Chris Baryomunsi declared that the Cabinet has cleared fresh amendments to the UPDF Act to address recent Supreme Court concerns, and promised military courts will now be run by real lawyers.
“Let me be clear, the Supreme Court did not say civilians can’t be tried by military courts. Some of you reported that without reading the actual ruling” Baryomunsi said sternly
He pointed fingers at journalists, accusing them of misleading the public with sensational headlines.
“I challenge you again that you as journalists, you should always read, but before you publish anything, you publish it from a point of knowledge. Because what the court said was that the military courts or court martial cannot try civilians under particular circumstances which must be defined in the law. That was the majority ruling from the judges, including the judgment by the Chief Justice.”he stated
According to Baryomunsi, it’s about who is running the court martial and whether they’re qualified.
“For instance, they pointed out that the membership of the court martial, including the chair of the court martial, are not necessarily legally trained. They don’t have any legal training. And the question was, how does one preside over a matter which is very serious, where you can even sentence somebody to death, and yet you, who is presiding over the court, or making those decisions, have never been trained in matters of law.” he revealed.
He noted that cabinet has approved major legal surgery on the UPDF Act with proposals that include; Court martial leaders must now be trained lawyers, General Court Martial upgraded to High Court status, Civilian appeals allowed through Court of Appeal and Supreme Court and conditions for trying civilians in military courts will be clearly written into law among others
“Because court advised that it is possible to try civilians in military courts under particular circumstances, and those circumstances must be defined in the law, but also the composition of the court martial must be reorganized to be a credible institution that can dispense justice once you appear before it.” Baryomunsi emphasized.
The Minister also hinted at other amendments related to soldier pensions and welfare, which had been tabled even before the ruling.
“But there are also other amendments which had been proposed earlier on before this ruling, touching a number of provisions on pension and other welfare issues which we have upheld, and these will be taken to Parliament for further processing before it can be enacted into a new law.”he added
