Mr. Kasato, the district councilor, mentioned that plainclothes officers picked him up from a church assembly on Feb. 8, threw him, hooded, right into a automotive and clobbered him.

He mentioned the boys requested him for the proof of election rigging he’d collected, and whether or not he had despatched it to Mr. Wine’s social gathering. He mentioned, sure, he had.

Mr. Kasato, a 47-year-old father of 11, mentioned that whereas he was chained to the ceiling, his toes barely touching the bottom, army officers whipped him with a wire and pulled at his pores and skin with pliers.

“It was a big shock,” he mentioned. “I was praying deeply that I really survive that torture.”

In late February, Mr. Kasato was charged with inciting violence throughout the November protests wherein safety forces killed dozens of individuals — accusations he denies. He has been launched on bail, however mentioned he was nonetheless in intense bodily ache, and that his medical doctors suggested he search medical consideration overseas.

Analysts say that Mr. Museveni, 76, who has dominated Uganda since 1986, is making an attempt to keep away from historical past repeating itself. He himself was a charismatic younger upstart who accused his predecessor, Mr. Obote, of rigging an election, and led an armed rebel that after 5 years managed to take energy.

Mr. Wine, 39, whose actual identify is Robert Kyagulanyi, has grow to be the face of this younger motion, promising to shake up the country’s stifled politics. As his marketing campaign gained floor final yr, he was arrested and crushed and placed under de facto house arrest.

“We are seeing a movement toward full totalitarianism in this country,” mentioned Nicholas Opiyo, a number one human rights lawyer. He was abducted final December and launched, charged with money laundering after his authorized advocacy group acquired a grant from American Jewish World Service, a New York-based nonprofit.



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