State Research Bureau (organisation)

There was neither research, nor were state matters dealt with, nor was it an office...thousands of Ugandans met their tortuous end in its subterranean cells.

[1] Empowered by a sweeping February 1971 decree which gave state agents wide latitude to act, the SRB tortured and executed many suspected dissidents, provoking international outrage.

[6] One contemporary account argued that the SRB rarely collected actual intelligence, and its members instead used their powers to incriminate people whom they had grudges against.

[7] In June 1974, in response to criticism of his regime and specifically accusations of numerous "disappearances" of persons in Uganda, Amin established a commission of inquiry to investigate abuses of state authority.

[12] An attempt to arrest former minister Moses Ali around October of that year ended in the death of 10 agents following a shootout with his personal guards.

[11] In the Uganda–Tanzania War, the SRB unsuccessfully attempted to stem the spread of civil unrest and guerrilla attacks against Amin's government.

[9][17] War correspondent Al J Venter stated that he was horrified by what he saw in the headquarters, writing "In 20 years of covering the African military beat, I have seen nothing like it.

[1] Its main building was painted in bright pink, and had three stories as well as a "huge subterranean chamber" where maximum security cells were located.

[1][19] SRB agents closely watched all known foreigners in Uganda, and were responsible for the abduction and murder of many of them due to suspected dissident activities.

[19] When reading documents of the SRB after the Uganda–Tanzania War, Venter stated that the agency's approach to paperwork had an "unmistakable British colonial imprint" and was rather well organized.

[2] The SRB headquarters became notorious for the human rights abuses committed within its walls;[21][22] Venter described it as "one-way trip to hell"[22] and ex-rebel Paul Oryema Opobo called it a "place of no return".

[18] As a large amount of marijuana was found in the headquarters after Amin's fall, Western journalists assumed that SRB agents had taken drugs to be mentally "fortified" during torture sessions.