The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has said it has failed to trace detained novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija.
Security operatives arrested Rukirabashaija from his home in Kisaasi, Kampala for insulting President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni and his son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba on Twitter. (Read report here).
He has remained in detention since December 28.
Security agencies have defied a court order to unconditionally release the novelist.
Now, UHRC says they have been searching for Rukirabashaija in all prisons but have failed to find him.
The commission has now appealed to the state to release the writer.
“The UHRC has over the past days visited various security and detention facilities in and around the Country to writers are Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. The Commission has equally been engaging security agencies and relevant government authorities to ensure that justice for Kakwenza prevails,” said the commission in a short statement.
“While we continue our efforts to locate Kakwenza, we urge Government to immediately release him or produce and charge him before a court of law.”
