Article 23 of the Constitution of Uganda guarantees the liberty of all Ugandan citizens. It says that no one shall be arrested or detained except for lawful reasons outlined by the constitution. If you are arrested you must be told the reason, kept in a place allowed by law and brought before a court within 48 hours.
This right is important for a PWD if they have a mental health problem they can be detained for treatment or imprisoned for their own care or protection.
These observations are made by Oliver Lewis director of the Mental Disability Advocacy Center after a visit to Butabika Hospital in 2014 put the law into perspective (see Uganda’s mental health system and the rule of no law):
These observations are made by Oliver Lewis director of the Mental Disability Advocacy Center after a visit to Butabika Hospital in 2014 put the law into perspective (see Uganda’s mental health system and the rule of no law):
During our visit to the hospital we established quickly that the law is completely ignored. Some patients (no data was available but we estimated around one in five) were on “Urgency Orders” which means police brought the person in. The law allows “a police officer not below the rank of assistant inspector, any medical practitioner, or any chief” to forcibly take a “person alleged to be of unsound mind” to any facility if they are “satisfied that it is necessary for the public safety, or for the welfare” of that person. That’s it. Nothing else is required. The law says Urgency Orders last for ten days, but in practice nothing changes on the expiration of the order...
In international law, if a person’s liberty is deprived without a legal basis, then the deprivation of liberty is unlawful. No-one here gets a court review of detention. So we can confidently say that every patient in Butabika who wants to leave but is not allowed to, is unlawfully detained.
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| Butabika hospital, Uganda’s premier psychiatric facility |
Article 23 of the Constitution of Uganda is written like this:
23. Protection of personal liberty.
(1) No person shall be deprived of personal liberty except in any of the following cases—
(a) in execution of the sentence or order of a court, whether established for Uganda or another country or of an international court or tribunal in respect of a criminal offence of which that person has been convicted, or of an order of a court punishing the person for contempt of court;
(b) in execution of the order of a court made to secure the fulfillment of any obligation imposed on that person by law;
(c) for the purpose of bringing that person before a court in execution of the order of a court or upon reasonable suspicion that that person has committed or is about to commit a criminal offence under the laws of Uganda;
(d) for the purpose of preventing the spread of an infectious or contagious disease;
(e) in the case of a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years, for the purpose of the education or welfare of that person;
(f) in the case of a person who is, or is reasonably suspected to be, of unsound mind or addicted to drugs or alcohol, for the purpose of the care or treatment of that person or the protection of the community;
(g) for the purpose of preventing the unlawful entry of that person into Uganda, or for the purpose of effecting the expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal of that person from Uganda or for the purpose of restricting that person while being conveyed through Uganda in the course of the extradition or removal of that person as a convicted prisoner from one country to another; or
(h) as may be authorised by law, in any other circumstances similar to any of the cases specified in paragraphs (a) to (g) of this clause.
(2) A person arrested, restricted or detained shall be kept in a place authorised by law.
(3) A person arrested, restricted or detained shall be informed immediately, in a language that the person understands, of the reasons for the arrest, restriction or detention and of his or her right to a lawyer of his or her choice.
(4) A person arrested or detained—
(a) for the purpose of bringing him or her before a court in execution of an order of a court; or
(b) upon reasonable suspicion of his or her having committed or being about to commit a criminal offence under the laws of Uganda, shall, if not earlier released, be brought to court as soon as possible but in any case not later than forty-eight hours from the time of his or her arrest.
(5) Where a person is restricted or detained—
(a) the next-of-kin of that person shall, at the request of that person, be informed as soon as practicable of the restriction or detention;
(b) the next-of-kin, lawyer and personal doctor of that person shall be allowed reasonable access to that person; and
(c) that person shall be allowed access to medical treatment including, at the request and at the cost of that person, access to private medical treatment.
(6) Where a person is arrested in respect of a criminal offence—
(a) the person is entitled to apply to the court to be released on bail, and the court may grant that person bail on such conditions as the court considers reasonable;
(b) in the case of an offence which is triable by the High Court as well as by a subordinate court, the person shall be released on bail on such conditions as the court considers reasonable, if that person has been remanded in custody in respect of the offence before trial for one hundred and twenty days;
(c) in the case of an offence triable only by the High Court, the person shall be released on bail on such conditions as the court considers reasonable, if the person has been remanded in custody for three hundred and sixty days before the case is committed to the High Court.
(7) A person unlawfully arrested, restricted or detained by any other person or authority shall be entitled to compensation from that other person or authority whether it is the State or an agency of the State or other person or authority.
(8) Where a person is convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for an offence, any period he or she spends in lawful custody in respect of the offence before the completion of his or her trial shall be taken into account in imposing the term of imprisonment.
(9) The right to an order of habeas corpus shall be inviolable and shall not be suspended.
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