Wheels of justice turning slow for amputated 19 year old boy

Highlights

•  The 19 year-old Hussein Yusuf was shot on both legs by a police officer in Arua City over unclear reasons
• His future is bleak and now has to wait for basic things from his brother, who is also overwhelmed with his family demands

 By Matata Benzamin

Arua City. June 16th, 2021 forever remains a dark day in the life of a 19-year-old boy whose leg was amputated after a bullet ripped through his legs.

The incident paused his school life because of the injuries. He was by then a pupil of Ombatini Primary School. The injuries could not allow him to travel to school. This painted a grim future for him.

The 19-year-old Hussein Yusuf, a resident of Oyoze Cell in Arua City was shot on both legs by a police officer in Arua City over unclear reasons.

To date, he lives a life full of pain, misery, poverty, and hopelessness, unable to access education, proper medical care, or any of the social privileges he once knew. The bullets ended his dreams, shattered his future, and left him grappling with physical and emotional pain.

This is the story of a young boy, caught in the crossfire of a justice system that has failed him, and a community struggling to come to terms with the events of that fateful day. Hussein was rescued by a good Samaritan, Muktar Ratib, who found him lying helpless in a pool of blood by the roadside.

How the incident happened

Hussein Yusuf was for 1pm Juma prayers in front of his brother’s workplace along Rhino camp road near Arua Primary School in Arua City, when he saw policemen chasing a suspected motorcycle thief.  Hussein said the policemen were shooting randomly at the suspect.

I heard gunshots from the policemen. But shortly, I felt some vibration in my legs and I fell down. I saw blood on my legs, and they were broken. It was the bullets that ripped through my legs.

“I was then rushed to the hospital by my brothers. My brothers at the scene were able to identify the policeman. Since then, I dropped out of school and have been seeking justice. I want those (Police) to compensate me, but it is not forthcoming,” he said.

He is an orphan, and with no access to proper medical care and education, his future looks bleak.

“My father died, and my followers are there but my mother is the one paying their school fees and my elder brother and the business she is doing is just a small business. I will just become a beggar now. I don’t know if I will survive now,” he added.

Bleak future: Hussein Yusuf on his clutches at their home in Arua City. Images by Matata Benjamin.

The pain continues

He said: “Every day, I feel a lot of pain, there’s metal inside there. I am surviving on painkillers. I was struggling on my own, I was hustling doing everything for myself while looking for something which I needed for school. Nowadays I can not go to school.”

How Good Samaritan saved Hussein

An eye witness, Muktar Ratib, said: “I saw that policeman shooting someone while running to our side. As I ran for safety too, I found this brother just lying down. He (Hussein) was crying ‘my leg, my leg, my leg, my leg’. So, I called a boda boda man who came and took us to the hospital.”

He said, later, they were told the case could not be managed at Arua Regional Referral hospital. The boy was referred to St Mary’s Hospital Lacor in Gulu.

It is from here that Hussein’s right leg was amputated and the left reinforced with an artificial bone.

Eyewitnesses speak out

Eyewitnesses confirmed Hussein’s innocence in the tragic event. Twaha Idi, who witnessed the shooting, said: “The suspect started running, reaching some 2 to 3 metres, the officer realized the suspect was about to escape, he released the first bullet in the air and then he released the second at ground level aiming to shoot the suspect.”

He added: “…and the second bullet was going to shoot a woman. She survived narrowly but unfortunately it caught that innocent boy. After shooting the boy, the community became angry at that police officer.”

Another witness, Mariam Swalim, a businesswoman who narrowly survived being shot at by the same bullets that hit Hussein, narrated: “The bullet came and hit the chair which I was sitting on. From there I heard something like a sound coming abruptly three times.”

She said the first bullet hit the box and passed through to the chair which she was sitting on. Customers who were eating started to run out for safety.  When she ran out also, she saw a boy was down in a pool of blood. “We thought the boy was dead,” she said.

When I saw the boy’s brother, I also started crying. It was very sad because that boy was innocent. So, it is the police who take responsibility and account for their actions.

Struggle for Justice

Hussein’s brother, Droti Ismail Yusuf, registered a case of attempted murder against the police officer, (Oyuru Quinto), who was in charge of the Field Force Unit at Arua Central Police Station at that time.

“After opening the file, immediately I got a phone call before reaching the hospital that I should reach him, which I did. When I reached him, he told me like he is the one who shot the boy and it was accidental,” he recounted.

He said the policeman had promised to offer help for the boy. Despite the severity of the case, progress has been slow. The family has faced numerous obstacles in their quest for justice.

“When I was trying to follow the case, reaching to some extent there’s a blockage like the file cannot move to any place. The file is still being handled by the same office by a CID officer (Ojwiga David),” he said.

The family is financially stuck to take back Hussein for a review. So far, the family has changed two artificial legs at the cost of Shs 2.3 million.

Policeman speaks out

The accused policeman, Oyuru, told the West Nile Press Online via the phone that: “That agreement (UShs 4 million), we did not seek there, because we supported them when that incident happened as a team. We supported them with the hospital bill, everything, we are the ones who cleared.”

However, the family insists that this was not enough to cover Hussein’s medical bills or the loss of his future.

Where is the case?

The case registered under SD reference 54/16/06/2021 has not moved for fair hearing.

In a report dated May 30, 2022, written by the Uganda Police West Nile Headquarters, indicates that the case of the attempted murder by D/IP Ojwiga David was fully investigated and sent to the office of DPP for legal advice that described the incident as ‘shooting by accident’

“The Resident State Attorney in his minute advised that under section 8(1) of the Penal Code Act Cap 120 Laws of Uganda, the officer who shot cannot be held liable and that the bullet got the victim by accident as the officer was trying to subdue the violent crowd, the file be closed and put away,” the report reads in part.

The family was advised that they should pursue civil action against the Attorney General for injuries suffered. Therefore, the charges against Oyuru Quinto were dropped.

But this claim that the crowd were rowdy was contrary to what eyewitnesses said, who expressed that the residents became charged after the boy was shot at by the officer.

Human Rights concern

Determined to seek justice, the family filed a complaint at Uganda Human Rights Commission (ARUA/18/2021) led by Hussein’s brother Droti Ismail Yusuf. They demanded a proper investigation and compensation for Hussein.

The Uganda Human Rights Commission responded to the family’s complaint. In a letter dated 6th July 2022, Bosco Okurut, the regional human rights officer at Uganda Human Rights Commission Arua, stated: “We write regarding your complaint that you registered with the commission to inform you that the commission has received a written response from the Respondent for you to give your written reaction as soon as possible in any case not later than seven (7) days on receipt of this letter.”

The family responded. “In response to the above subject matter that we received from your office regarding the letter written to you by the Uganda Police, we reject some statements submitted in the letter they wrote to you regarding what happened on that day of 16/06/2021 saying that the workmates of the suspect became violent for the purpose of enabling the suspect to escape.”

Okurut however, revealed in a phone call interview that the case has not been sent for hearing stating that: “We have procedures, after a matter has been launched with us, we subject it to investigations and to legal opinion, and then to tribunal hearing. The status is at the legal opinion writing level, that’s the status waiting for tribunal hearing or court hearing.”

Nicholas Opiyo, a Human Rights Lawyer, and an advocate at Chapter Four Uganda, said: “There are numerous cases of extra judicial killings or injury by the soldiers and police men in this country. Many of them go unpunished because the structure of reporting criminal offenses is that you are reporting a violation by a police officer to a fellow police officer to investigate, structurally it is very difficult for them to do so.”

He added: “We have laws now such as the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act and the Human Rights Enforcement Act that puts individual criminals and civil responsibility or liability on those officers. We must begin to apply these laws vigorously and aggressively if we are to make sure that police officers who are bestowed with the duty of Protecting citizens do not turn out to be people who are killing.”

Take action: The Human Rights Lawyer Nicholas Opiyo condemned the act saying police should be held accountable

The Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act, 2012 clearly prohibits any form of torture by state actors, including the police. The Act prescribes severe penalties for those found guilty of committing torture, including imprisonment for up to 15 years, or even life imprisonment in cases of aggravated torture. Police officers found guilty of inflicting pain on innocent citizens can also face these penalties.

Police responds

The outgone Police Public Relations Officer for West Nile, Josephine Angucia, said: “It is true that there was a case where a young man was shot. I cannot tell how he was shot really but maybe it was either a stray bullet which got this person in the process of conducting operations.”

She said: “There was some kind of compensation paid to the victim of that incident of about UShs 4 million for treatment. I was told that the case file is there. But I cannot tell how far it has gone.”

On the spot: Josephine Angucia, outgone Public Relations Officer for West Nile.

The mayor of Arua Central Division, Muzaid Khemis, said: “The policemen who shot the boy should be held responsible. Even if it was a stray bullet, the boy was injured. Then the PSU (Police Standards Unit) officers who went on ground performing their duty meant that the PSU needed to do a lot of work.”

The case against Quinto remains stagnant at Arua Central Police Station, leaving Hussein to live a life of misery and despair. Today, Hussein Yusuf, once an ambitious young pupil with a promising future, is left with nothing but pain and a bleak outlook on life.

This story is executed with support from USAID through African Institute for Investigative Journalism – AIIJ.