The State minister for Gender, Ms Peace Mutuuzo (Right) with Ms Antonia N’gabala-Sodonon, the coordinator of the African Union Gender, Peace and Security Programme, in Wakiso District. Centre is the DPP, Hon. Justice Mike Chibita
Kampala- The Director of Public Prosecutions\r\n(DPP), Hon. Justice Mike Chibita, asked government to urgently pass a law for\r\nprotection of witnesses in sexual and gender-based violence cases.
Hon. Justice\r\nChibita said most victims of sexual violence fear to testify against their\r\nperpetrators, especially in court where their identity is not concealed, which\r\nputs their life in danger.
"Under our\r\nadversarial system of litigation, the victim of sexual and gender-based\r\nviolence is not shielded from the public or her attacker...,” he said\r\nyesterday.
Hon. Justice\r\nChibita was speaking at a symposium on access to justice and fighting impunity\r\nof sexual violence in the Great Lakes region member states in Kigo, Wakiso\r\nDistrict.
Hon. Justice\r\nChibita added: "Whether or not a trial is heard in camera depends on the good\r\nwill of the judge handling the matter or how persuasive prosecution is but it\r\nshould be made a mandatory requirement in cases of sexual violence for trials to\r\nbe held in camera. We urgently need to pass the law on witness protection,\r\ncomplete with the requisite infrastructure.”
The Chief Government\r\nprosecutor also accused defense lawyers of making the victims more fearful due\r\nto the embarrassing questions that they ask them during cross-examination in\r\ncourt.
Sexual gender\r\nbased violence crimes include rape, defilement, elopement, and trafficking in\r\npersons.
Hon. Justice\r\nChibita also said victims face stigma, adding that many fear reporting their\r\nperpetrators on grounds that society will think ‘bad’ about them for being\r\nimmoral or provocative.
Speaking at\r\nthe same symposium, the State Minister of Gender, Ms Peace Mutuuzo, pledged\r\nthat the line ministry was working on a law on sexual gender-based violence,\r\nadding that her senior counterpart, Ms Janat Mukwaya was in Parliament\r\npresenting the same.
At the same\r\nconference, the director of the UN team of experts on the rule of law and\r\nsexual violence in conflict, Mr Innocent Zahinda, faulted the armed forces for\r\nbeing the main perpetrators of sexual violence crimes across the Great Lakes\r\nregion.
Mr Zahinda\r\nsaid there should be measures such as signing of undertakings, revision of\r\ncodes of conduct, and command orders against the armed forces to curb the vice.
This article was published in the Daily Monitor on July 8, 2016
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Posted 11th, July 2016
