Uganda’s Notorious torture facility’ Nalufenya has been shut down by the new Inspector general of Police Martin Okoth Ochola.
The decision for its closure was reached during the Police Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting chaired by Ochola on Wednesday.
Despite strong resistance by some top officers, the committee agreed that suspects can be detained in the other various Police stations in the country.
The resisting officers said Nalufenya had good interrogation facilities and accommodation for suspects but Ochola maintained his stand saying Naggalama Police Station is equally a good facility for interrogation so it can relatively be used instead of Nalufenya.
Nalufenya is a gazzetted police station that has been used under former IGP Gen. Kale Kayihura’s reign as a detention centre for high profile criminals.
Many of the suspects detained at the facility including former ADF Chief Jamil Mukulu, the Kaweesi Murder suspects, Kamwenge Mayor Godfrey Byamukama among others openly revealed that acts of human rights violation are carried out at the facility including torture, detention without trial among others.
Byamukama claimed that police detectives tortured him from the notorious high security Nalufenya police detention facility in Jinja district after being arrested as a suspect in the murder of Kaweesi. He sustained deep wounds on his knees and ankles, which appeared to have been inflicted by sharp objects.
