The abduction and continued incommunicado detention of Rev. Fr. Deusdedit Ssekabira of Masaka Diocese is a clear violation of Uganda’s constitutional and legal safeguards on arrest and detention, Chapter Four Uganda said today. We call for his immediate, unconditional release, prompt investigation and accountability for these violations, and an end to illegal arrests.
On 3 December 2025, armed operatives in military attire seized Fr. Ssekabira from the offices of his NGO, Universal Chastity Education, in Masaka City. They whisked him to an undisclosed location without informing him, his colleagues, or his family of the reasons for his arrest or place of detention to facilitate access for his lawyer, family, and if necessary, his doctor.
His whereabouts remained unknown for several days until the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) publicly admitted that he is being held over alleged “violent subversive activities against the state.”
This manner of arrest and continued detention breaches several fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the 1995 Constitution. For instance, under Article 23 of the Constitution, the right to personal liberty requires that any person arrested be informed immediately of the reasons for their arrest and mandates that they be produced before a competent court within 48 hours.
The secret detention in an unknown place further contravenes lawful detention guarantees, which require any person arrested to be detained in a place authorized by law. Detention of civilians in ungazetted places, such as military facilities, exposes the detainees to human rights violations, including torture, inhuman treatment, and, in extreme situations, extrajudicial killings.
Chapter Four Uganda calls on the UPDF to immediately and unconditionally release Rev. Fr. Ssekabira. If there are any credible allegations against him, the complainant should file a case at a police station for a proper, lawful procedure to ensue.
We urge all law enforcement agencies to cease unlawful arrests and detention practices. We further urge the Director of Public Prosecutions and the courts not to sanction and entertain cases that are tainted with illegalities.
We further urge the Uganda Human Rights Commission to investigate this case as part of a broader pattern of illegal detentions and enforced disappearances.
Respect for the rule of law demands that law enforcement operations be conducted strictly within the bounds of the Constitution and the law.