Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa

1. Obtaining a Police Report

The website of the US embassy in Kampala provides the following information on a victim's ability to obtain a police report from within Uganda:

[o]nce recording the complaint, the police should provide the reporting individual with a copy of the report and a case reference number. [T]here is no fee for filing a police report, but in order to get a copy of the report, or information on the status of the investigation, the fee is US $30 (60,000 Ugandan shillings). (US n.d.)

According to sources, officers at police stations will enter a complaint into the station's diary and give the complainant a "reference number" of the case (HURINET-U et al. 2013, 15), or "a docket with the file number" (InIIS 2014, 23).

2. Format of Police Reports

A report on the police force in Uganda published by by the Institute of Intercultural and International Studies (für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien - InIIS) at the University of Bremen states that concerning complaints made to police, "the entire documentation process is handwritten" (InIIS 2014, 23). Similarly, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, a researcher at the InIIS, whose work is focused on policing in Uganda, noted that

at present, the Uganda Police Force does not use a computerized system to record complaints. So the officer who made the report, even at the lowest police structure, the police post, has to go to the higher structure such as a district police station or even the regional police headquarters in case the file was taken there. …The police units do not have the same capacity to record and store data of complaints because the capacity of small units in terms of manpower, resources like office space, equipment and capabilities are limited.

The police files or complaints have a life span of 20 years so it is easy to request a report of a complaint submitted a year ago. The time depends on the status of the file at the time of requisition of the report. Prompt action can be achieved if the file is at the police station or division [where] it was reported, [but it can be] slow if the file was transferred to the [regional police] headquarters [or] the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution. (Researcher 23 Mar. 2016)

According to the report by the US Department of State's Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), "when crimes are reported[,] they are not adequately documented in any sort of standardized reporting format" (US 15 Apr. 2015, 1). In contrast, the InIIS researcher noted that

there is a standard format across the country for uniformity and the need to capture relevant facts. Depending on the availability of resources and location of the police establishment, some units use letter heads, others use official stamps to authenticate their documents and, most importantly, the format depends on the nature of the crime or complaint and respective departmental heads sign the reports. (4 Mar. 2016)

3. Obtaining Police Reports from Abroad and Through a Representative

Information on the possibility to obtain a police report from abroad or through a representative was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. However, according to the Researcher, if an embassy was to obtain a police report, they would have to locate the police unit where the case file is kept or to which it was forwarded (Researcher 23 Mar. 2016). The same source also stated that obtaining a police report through a representative would depend "on the circumstances and the relationship one has with the representative. [It is possible] as long as the complainant's statement is attached or the person is an employee of an organization or a company or a member of family" (Researcher 4 Mar. 2016). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Human Rights Network Uganda (HURINET-U), the National Coalition on Police Accountability and Security Sector Reform, and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. 2013. 101 Things You Wanted to Know About the Police but Were Afraid to Ask. [Accessed 4 Mar. 2016]

Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS), University of Bremen. 2014. Sarah Biecker and Klaus Schlichte. "Policing Uganda, Policing the World." InIIS-Arbeitpapier Nr. 40/14 [Accessed 29 Feb. 2016]

Researcher. Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien (InIIS), University of Bremen. 23. March 2016. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Researcher. 4 March 2016. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

United States (US). 15 April 2015. Department of State, Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC). "Uganda." 2015 Crime and Safety Report. [Accessed 26 Feb. 2016]

United States (US). N.d. Embassy in Uganda. "Help for American Victims of Crime in Uganda." [Accessed 3 Mar. 2016]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Canada – Border Services Agency, Consulate in Uganda; Human Rights Centre Uganda; Human Rights Network Uganda; six lawyers in Kampala; Professor, Coventry University; Professor, Makerere University; Professor, University of Bremen; Researcher, Makerere University; Senior Fellow, Centre for Global Cooperation Research; Transparency International Uganda; Uganda – High Commission in Ottawa, Human Rights Commission, Police Force; Uganda Victims' Foundation.

Internet sites, including: African Policing; Amnesty International; Canada – Travel and Tourism; Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative; ecoi.net; Factiva; Freedom House; Human Rights Watch; International Conference on the Great Lakes Region; Interpol; REDRESS; Uganda – High Commission in London and Pretoria, Inspectorate of Government, Law Development Center, Law Reform Commission; United Kingdom – Home Office; United Nations – High Commissioner for Refugees, Human Rights Council, Office on Drugs and Crime, Population Fund, Refworld.