Police are holding 62 suspected criminals at Kasese Central Police Station after they were arrested from areas believed to be a safe haven for criminal gangs in a three day's operation. The operation that left many in hiding started on Monday until Wednesday.
Dickens Okello the Kasese District Police Commander reveals that 26 of the 62 suspects are minors who are wanted for drug abuse, way laying people at night and snatching hand bags. They were picked up from Acholi Quarters, Kizungu, Kidodo, Nyakasanga and Kiteso among others.
Accordng to Okello, the operation was meant to crack down on lawlessness and curb the increasing levels of crime in the town and they intend to screen the suspects and identify the hardcore crimes for prosecution.
However, police has faced condemnation from human rights activists for arresting minors in such operations and holding them together with adults. According to Godfrey Kule Kiwedde, the Executive Director Centre for Hope and Life, arresting minors and putting them in prison with older persons turns them into hardened criminals.
He adds that it is important to establish a juvenile rehabilitation center in Kasese and other districts in the country to work as correctional centers to reduce increasing juvenile delinquency.