The US Department of State on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, announced travel sanctions on four officers of the Uganda Police Force (UPF) on allegations of gross violation of human rights and inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment.
Matthew Miller, Department of State spokesperson, identified the designated individuals as Bob Kagarura, former Wamala Regional Police Commander, and Alex Mwine, former District Police Commander for Mityana District.
Others are Elly Womanya, who at the time of the alleged human violation was Senior Commissioner and Deputy Director of UPF’s Criminal Investigations Division in charge of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), and Hamdani Twesigye, previously Deputy Inspector of Police assigned to the SIU.
What the US is referring to as gross human rights violations and inhuman treatment is a simple flogging of not more than five cane strokes that were given to the stubborn MP Francis Zaake when he tried to violate COVID-19 preventive restrictions.
It is so ironic that the country that has sanctioned four policemen for flogging an errant individual is the same country sponsoring genocide in Gaza, the grossest form of human rights violation.
According to a report by Brown University’s Watson Institute, the United States has spent $22.76 billion in support of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has culminated in a genocide against Palestinians.
The $17.9bn in military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza started a year ago is the highest annual total ever, according to the report. In addition to the funding, the Commander of the US Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, has been frequenting Tel Aviv to help the Israeli army coordinate the bombardment of Gaza.
The huge funding provided by the US and the military coordination have enabled Israel to kill nearly 42,000 people, including more than 16,750 children, and wounding more than 96,000, since October 2023, according to Palestinian health officials.
The death toll is likely to be much higher as thousands of people remain buried under rubble or in areas inaccessible to medical teams, according to several aid agencies.
Additionally, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that since October 2023, at least 15,000 children have lost one or both legs. Many of these amputations were performed without anesthesia, underscoring the dire medical conditions in Gaza that have been created by Israel aided by the USA.
The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 22,500 people of those injured as of July 23, 2024, have sustained “life-changing injuries,” requiring rehabilitation services “now and for years to come.”
These records of human rights violations, inhuman or degrading treatment, and collective punishment committed by Israel with funding from the USA are incomparable.
Nonetheless, the US, an accomplice in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, feels like they still have the moral authority to sanction anyone for human rights violations, let alone those who committed an act as petty as flogging a hooligan.
The irony and the mockery are so telling of how the US disregards the rest of the world.
