Along with the
activities in Fort Portal, I got to contribute to the Ugandan justice system in
even more unexpected ways while working with Justice Rugadya at the High Court.
Throughout the summer my partner Johnny and I spent long hours sitting on a
wobbly wooden bench and sweating through our suits during Justice Rugadya’s
court sessions. While the cases themselves were interesting, the day in and day
out of straining to listen to multi-translated witness testimony and the
ever-recurring problems with police reports was often pretty difficult. It was
all worth it, however, when Justice Rugadya asked us to write opinions for the
cases we had been observing all summer. Although reading the case files, which
are covered in construction paper and tied together with string, can seem as
difficult as listening to it in person, it was such a humbling and exciting
experience to be able to contribute some legal analysis to Rugadya’s judgments.
Even though we were always a little skeptical as to how much of our writing the
Judge would actually read, and if any of it was ever correct, Johnny and I were
blown away when he not only read our opinions but also used some of them in his
own judgments. The wooden bench doesn’t seem so uncomfortable when you are
listening to a High Court Judge not only agree with your conclusion but even
use some of your words when reading aloud the legal judgment for a case. The
fact that the Judge had enough confidence in Johnny and I as students to ask us
to help him with judgments as well as the fact that some of our analysis was
actually correct seemed to make even the year of legal research and writing
pain worth it.
One
of the last things we did before leaving Uganda was tour some of their largest
prisons, which are just outside Kampala. After working in Fort Portal prison
for a week I had an idea of what Ugandan prisons were like, but Luzera remand
home and the maximum security prison gave me an even clearer understanding of
what I think is the Ugandan prison phenomenon. Here are a few things that I
noticed that seem to make Ugandan prisons so unique:
1. The guards and the prisoners get along. Not only are
there no issues between guards and prisoners but the prisoners view the guards
as a sort of advocate on their behalf.
2. There is no gang violence. While U.S. prisons tend to
experience racially based gang violence and Uganda as a whole does have some
discrimination based on tribal background, it does not seem to influence the
prison system. Because the Ugandan prisons are so overcrowded, men are packed
into open dorm type rooms some with bunk beds, some with mattresses that they
role up during the day, and some with just blankets on the hard floors. Even
with all of these convicted felons living in extremely close proximity, there
are very few guards around and there doesn’t seem to be much concern about
violence breaking out.
3. Everyone has a job/role and they all seem to work together. It’s a really
interesting scenario to walk around a maximum security prison with high walls
and barbed wire and yet see prisoners contently making furniture, cleaning the
floors, or cooking dinner.
These are just some initial
observations from an American law student, so I’m sure there is a lot more
going on than I can discover from just one visit. However, from just meeting
the prison warden and guards and getting a tour of the facilities it seems like
U.S. prison systems could benefit from whatever Uganda is doing that keeps
their prisoners so peaceful and helps them see the guards in such a favorable
light.
