The right to rehabilitation of refugee survivors of torture is critical to the restoration of their human dignity. The study examines the extent to which the right has been realized in Uganda. The study explores the adequacy of the legal framework for the rehabilitation of refugee survivors of torture, their rehabilitation needs, available mechanisms, and challenges, before making appropriate conclusions and recommendations. The study adopts a qualitative methodology in the form of a desk review of primary and secondary sources, field observations, and key informant interviews and interviews to answer the research questions above. A total of twenty-seven (27) participants contributed to the study. These included nine (9) service provides from six (6) state and non-state actors, and eighteen (18) Kampala-based Urban Refugees of Congolese origin who had suffered torture in their country of origin or during transit en route to Uganda and had arrived in Uganda between 2011 and 2021. The study participants were interviewed after obtaining the necessary ethical clearances from the University School of Social Sciences Research and Ethics Committee (MAKSS REC), and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST). The study established that although the right to rehabilitation for survivors of torture is provided for by various international and regional human rights instruments, it is not expressly stipulated within the domestic legal framework. Domestic law provides for judicial-based rehabilitation of survivors of torture experienced within Uganda’s territories. The study further established that refugee survivors of torture in Uganda have several interlinked rehabilitation needs, ranging from medical, psychological, social, livelihood, legal, protection, and general needs. Even then, there is a lack of a specific government programme for the rehabilitation of such survivors. Medical and psychological rehabilitation services are part of the general health care system, and as such survivors of torture, including refugees, seek rehabilitation from public and private health facilities, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs also provide social, economic, livelihood, and legal services aimed at the wholistic rehabilitation of survivors of torture, while each government ministry, department, or agent is expected to provide the services that fall within its mandate. However, the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of rehabilitation services is hampered by various challenges. These include an inadequate legal and policy framework as a basis for mandatory provision of rehabilitation services, lack of a systematic identification process of survivors of torture; limited capacity of service providers manifesting as inadequate human resources including language interpreters, health supplies, goods, and services. The refugee survivors of torture also face gender-based barriers to accessing rehabilitation services, and the challenges caused by the changed circumstances occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic The NGOs at the center of rehabilitation service provision are largely donor-dependent, leading to a lack of adequate financial resources for sustainable service delivery. Uganda should therefore conduct a comprehensive review of its domestic legal and policy framework to bring it into conformity with international human rights standards. Such steps would include, amending the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act to categorically provide for the right to rehabilitation of survivors of torture and for the State's obligation to provide holistic rehabilitation services for all, including survivors of torture experienced outside Uganda, through judicial and non-judicial mechanisms; enacting a legal aid policy and Act, revising the Refugee policy to include systematic identification of survivors of torture and the provision of livelihood support to urban refugees, and amending the minimum health care package to include trauma rehabilitation. Government should additionally fund NGOs providing rehabilitation services, and together with development partners increase funding for the rehabilitation of survivors of torture. Government should deliberately build the capacity of the health sector, including skilling the existing human resource to handle survivors of torture; and enhance collaborative efforts among stakeholders for effective service delivery. This would facilitate the provision of services towards the realisation of the right to rehabilitation of refugee survivors of torture.

show more