REFUGEES TOP CASE NUMBER OF OFFENDERS IN ADJUMANI DISTRICT

By Nancy Aol

Adjumani

The high court session being held in Adjumani is overwhelmed with Refugee offenders as compared to the nationals, the court session that kicked off on the 3rd October 2023 will be handling sexual Gender Based Violence crimes totaling to 50 cases.

The cases include 24 aggravated Defilement, 14 Rape, 11 Murder and 1 aggravated trafficking in children.

Honorable Justice Acellam Collins the high court judge Arua circuit pointed out that, “I have noted with concern that most of the offenders are refugees and it seems the laws governing this country are strange to them and we shall not be doing them any justice by bringing them to court and convict them, I think the best is to sensitize them” he stressed while meeting the different stakeholders in the court room.

Stakeholders in a meeting with the high court Arua circuit.

His Lordship Acellam noted that bringing justice services near to the people is to enable the victims and those involved in the crime to participate as opposed to calling them to Arua which is costly, he therefore called for co-operation from the different stakeholders to see that justice is accorded.

Paulino Vuso a member of Adjumani Elders Forum (ADEFO) who double as a court Assessors, pointed out that the largest number of the offenders are young people and he blamed the crime rate to high consumption of Alcohol by the youth.

He also said “Adjumani district’s population is a pot of cultures and we are now in equal numbers and the refugees come from a country that has been in trouble for centuries and are now mixing freely with us here which is a concern so this session might provide some lessons for them.”

The three districts of Madi sub region are served by a chief magistrate’s court in Moyo and a grade I magistrate court in Adjumani.

COVER PHOTO: Adjumani Magistrate Court Block By Nancy Aol