The LTC commandant, Lt. Col. Savy Tumuhimbise says that the trainees are legal officers mandated with the cardinal role of coordinating with various unit commanders to expedite the tracing of human rights violations in the course of executing internal security operations.
Thirty legal officers from both Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces-UPDF and Uganda Police Force, on Saturday concluded a five-day course in the observance of human rights, during their joint internal security operations.
The training was conducted at the Jinja-based UPDF
Legal Training Center -LTC and attracted instructors from both UPDF and the
International Committee of Red Cross-ICRC. Participants were tipped on the relevance of being
mindful of the well-being of the civilian population during security-led operations.
The LTC commandant, Lt. Col. Savy Tumuhimbise says that the
trainees are legal officers mandated with the cardinal role of coordinating with various unit commanders to expedite the tracing of human rights violations in the course of
executing internal security operations.
Tumuhimbise stresses that the trainees were further
equipped with the primary roles of police and UPDF during law enforcement, the
relationship between humanitarian law and international law, the applicability
of force and firearms without committing criminal activities while ensuring
internal security and the process of advising commanders ahead of internal security operations.
D/SP Farouk Matovu, attached to the Uganda police force’s legal department
says that the training with their counterparts from the UPDF, has equipped them
with knowledge of the essence of joint operability while executing their respective state
duties.
//cue in: “the cooperation between…//
Cue out…in our operations,”//
Yossouf Traore, the ICRC’s regional delegate with armed and
security forces, challenged officers to be mindful of the legal frameworks governing
their respective communities, which will enable them to selflessly protect the human
rights and values of the civilian population throughout the course of their
deployments within different units and departments.
//cue in: “in your duty…//
Cue out…duty with professionalism,”//
The UPDF’s chief of legal services, Brig. Godard Busingye notes that such legal tips enable both officers and militants, to acquire
exclusive knowledge on the coordination of their operations, with well
streamlined safeguards aimed at ensuring the protection of media personnel
during security led operations.
//cue in: “the media is…//
Cue out…are foreign media,”//
Busingye further commissioned the 19-student capacity
dormitories, which were refurbished by the UPDF’s engineering brigade, to ensure
safe accommodation of legal officers during their trainings.
The LTC was commissioned in 2014 with an aim of equipping legal
officers attached to the UPDF, police, prisons services and Uganda Wildlife
Authority-UWA with refresher courses in military law, humanitarian law and the
international human rights law.
