DOC/OS(XXXIII)/ 324c/II Findings The prison system Legal framework and organisation Uganda has a dual prison system, with prisons under the responsibility of the central government, and prisons under local governments. There are 47 central government prisons, and than 145 local government prisons. To these must be added local governments lockups. The Uganda Prison Service (UPS) was established under the Constitution of Uganda and the 1958 Prison Act (revised in 1964). These, together with the prison rules made under section 76 of the Act, continue to provide the legal framework under which the UPS operates. The UPS, along with the Uganda Police Force falls under the authority of the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Commissioner General for Prisons and his Deputy are appointed by the President, with parliamentary approval. UPS has four major Departments headed by a senior Assistant Commission of Prisons: - Department of Inspection - Department of Administration - Department of enterprises - Department of Support Services Creation of a separate department for health in prisons is underway. Outside the Headquarters in Kampala, there are 11 regions, headed by a Regional Commander, and an Officer in Charge at each prison. The budget for infrastructure today is estimated at 18% of what would be needed for smooth functioning, budget for operations at 42%, and budget for staffing at 50% of what is needed. Under the provisions of the Police Act 1994 the police have power to arrest a person if they have reasonable cause to suspect that the person has committed or is about to commit an arrestable offence (punishable by one year or 1001= UGS). Furthermore, a police officer may arrest and detain a person if he considers it necessary to prevent them from causing physical injury to themselves or others; suffering physical injury; causing loss or damage to property; committing an indecent act; causing obstruction on a highway; inflicting harm on children or vulnerable persons. Chief of villages, Local Councils and Committees, Local Defence Units and other individuals are also entitled to arrest people suspected of having committed an offence entailing an imprisonment sentence of at least a year. A very striking feature of the legal framework in Uganda is the defilement offence. Defilement became a capital offence in 1990. Sex by any aged male with a female under the age of 18 constitutes defilement (18 being the age of consent, among the highest worldwide). The very high number of defilement cases is a feature of the Ugandan prison population. There have been reports that these cases are not always founded and that families get on with the police to extort money from the suspect, or even encouraged relationship between victim and offender only to later use the issue of defilement to extort compensation. As a capital offence, a case for defilement must be heard by a High Court judge, hence lengthy pre-trial periods. Following these delays, and for a variety of reasons such as insufficient evidence, age not proven, unavailability of witnesses, etc. , the rate of acquittal is high. Where a conviction is obtained, however, sentences range from caution to 25 years with most falling in the range of 6-10 years. Most offenders are almost as young as their victims (16-20). There have been no execution for this reason. There are currently proposals to enable lower 9