Uganda

(4 May 2004, CCPR/CO/80/UGA, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 5 and 18)

"The Committee welcomes the ruling of the Supreme Court in Kyawanywa v. the Attorney-General, declaring corporal punishment as unconstitutional.

"The State party has acknowledged the deplorable prison conditions in Uganda. The most common problems are overcrowding, scarcity of food, poor sanitary conditions and inadequate material, human and financial resources. The treatment of prisoners continues to be a matter of concern to the Committee. There are reported incidents of corporal punishment for disciplinary offences. Solitary confinement and deprivation of food are also used as disciplinary measures. Juveniles and women are often not kept separate from adults and males. The Committee has taken note of the measures implemented by the State party to counteract these shortcomings, including the introduction of community service as an alternative to imprisonment. However, it notes that they are inadequate to overcome the problems. It is also concerned about the high percentage of persons detained on remand (almost 70 per cent of inmates) (arts. 7 and 10).

The State party should terminate practices contrary to article 7 and bring prison conditions into line with article 10 of the Covenant and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. It should also take immediate action to reduce overcrowding in prisons as well as the number of persons detained on remand."