The decision follows a closed-door Police Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting which was chaired by the new IGP Okoth Ochola.

The new police administration is fronting human rights and cleaning the image of the police as top priority.

“Torture of suspects will not be tolerated in the new police administration,” state-owned newspaper quotes source privy to PAC.

Suspects currently being held at Nalufenya police detention facility will be transferred to other detention facilities.

The move to close Nalufenya detention facility is also aimed at cutting Uganda Police Force’s costs.

Read Also: Sacked IGP Kale Kayihura hands over office.ew

Before the former IGP Kale Kayihura was sacked, the opined that the force was cash strapped.

“There is no money. We therefore picked the most important areas and allocated them the operational funds. The focus will be rotational and at the end of the year, all other regions will have benefited,” Kayihura said.

Why Nalufenya

Nalufenya detention facility has for the last years been at the heart of human rights injustices including torture and violation of basic suspect rights.

The detention facility is home to suspects charged with terrorism, abetting terrorism, aggravated robbery and murder.

Last year, the torturous acts of the controversial detention facility caused a public outcry after the torture images of Kamwenge mayor Geoffrey Byamukama surfaced. Part of his wounded body had started to rot.

The facility holds former ADF leader Jamil Mukulu accused of terrorism and murder together with 34 others.

Parliament's position on Nalufenya

Last year, a section of MPs on the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights visited Nalufenya detention facility to assess its conditions and produced two conflicting reports which were both adopted by the House.

The majority report revealed that there was no torture at Nalufenya detention facility and suspects were being fed well. It further revealed that there was no overcrowding and on average, Nalufenya holds less than 50 inmates and most of the suspects are transferred to Luzira Prison.

Minority report, which was presented by Anthony Akol, revealed damning details after medical records book revealed that most suspects were receiving treatment for soft tissue injury, open wounds, pain in the ankles and physical deformations.

In a debate over the same issue, MPs unanimously agreed that there were cases of torture and demanded for action to be taken, including degazetting the facility