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4.3. PERIOD SPENT ON REMAND IN PRISONS
from Protecting constitutional and procedural rights of pre-trial detainees through access to justice
of Parliament, Allan Ssewanyana and Muhammad Ssegirinya were arrested in September 2021, both were re-arrested minutes later and held beyond the 48-hours before they were eventually produced in courts of law following prolonged advocacy by opposition politicians.
4.3. Period spent on remand in prisons
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Currently, more than half of the prison population, 52.8%, is on remand awaiting trial against 47.1% that have been convicted.32 This shows the magnitude of pre-trial detention in Uganda. The average length of stay on remand is higher for persons charged with capital offences.
Figure 9: Average length of stay on remand for capital offences (Source: JLOS Annual Performance Reports 2016/17-2019/20)
The findings from the study show that only 253 of the 613 suspects interviewed (42%) had spent less than 6 months on remand. The rest had spent over 6 months. Of these, 137 (22%) had spent between 6 months and 1 year and 109 (18%) had spent 1 to 2 years on remand. A total of 36 suspects (6%) had been on remand between 2 to 3 years, 68 (11%) had been on remand between 3 to 6 years while 10 suspects (2%) had been in custody on remand for over 6 years. A study published in 2008, painted a similar picture to the data from the survey. It indicated that at the time, up to 56% of prisoners in Uganda were on remand awaiting trial.33 This means that not much has changed since then.
Table 12: Period spent on remand in prisons (Source: ASF baseline survey data)
Mathew, a 30-year-old male prisoner at Murchison Bay in Luzira is one of the people that have spent the longest time on remand having been detained for 7 years on charges of defilement.
At the same facility 26-year-old Michael remanded for defilement has also spent 7 years on remand.
‘I hope that the court will take into account my sickness, and the period spent on remand and grant me bail or speed up my case because I have not received such help yet.’
‘I was initially remanded at Kitalya prison and later brought here. I have been here for 7 years now though I have never been taken to court since. I have no access to a lawyer and believe that is why I have been here this long. I pray that I get a lawyer, go to court and get tried.’
