Uganda charges officers over refugees' kidnapping

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Six Ugandan police officers were arraigned on Friday in a military court accused of conspiring to kidnap and illegal deportation of Rwandan political refugees.

According to the lawyers of the accused, the officers were doing it under the right provisions.

South Sudanese refugees gather inside a make-shift camp at Nimule border in Uganda on July 16, 2016. /AFP Photo

"In case they did anything, it was under the joint cooperation between the Uganda police force and the Rwandese police force. These charges are absolutely frivolous," lawyer for the accused, Caleb Alaka said.

The country's military intelligence authority is still in pursuit of three other officers.

The arrested officers have been operatives who have served in police units and have been handling high profile cases.

Many of their victims have been Rwandese, South Sudanese and Congolese refugees.

The officers will be back in court next month. Their actions have however shade a spotlight on the operations of Uganda's security organs. But most of all have left many questions to ask about Uganda's refugee policy.

File photo: ‍Refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sit and wait on July 14, 2013 at the Busunga border post near Bundibugyo, in Uganda. /AFP Photo

Uganda has been hailed for hosting thousands of refugees but recent complaints by political refugees continue to taint that image.

"It casts real doubt on Uganda’s image in as far as Uganda's treatment of refugees is concerned, because, what was hitherto thought to be a fantastic policy appears to be a death trap for many refugees who have ended up being sent back to face grave human rights violations," human rights lawyer, Nicholas Opiyo said.

Uganda currently hosts over a million refugees, many leaving their countries to avoid political persecution, hunger and war.