Barnabas Tinkasiimire, a Ugandan member of parliament critical of President Yoweri Museveni, was abducted over the weekend and apparently tortured before his release, a member of the law society said on Monday. Uganda has seen increased pressure on opposition figures ahead of presidential elections in January. Museveni announced he will seek to extend his nearly 40 years in power.
The Uganda Law Society raised the alarm over the "enforced disappearance" of Barnabas Tinkasiimire, a lawyer and MP, after his family told them on Sunday that he had been picked up by "heavily armed, drone-operating security operatives" at a petrol station in the capital Kampala.
Tinkasiimire's wife said he had since been found in a suburb of the city.
"They dumped him in Namungoona in the early morning hours," she said, adding that he went missing on Friday.
"He is alive but very weak. We have taken him for medical attention," she said.
Tinkasiimire's wife later told the law society that he had "torture marks on his body", according to its vice-president, Anthony Asiimwe.
"We are concerned that a legislator and an advocate can be tortured," Asiimwe told news agencies.
"It is disturbing and we demand that the government get to the root of what happened to him," he added.
Though Tinkasiimire is a member of Museveni's ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, he has been an outspoken critic of some aspects of the president's rule in Uganda.
In a post on social media, opposition leader Bobi Wine said Tinkasiimire "has been very critical of Museveni's effort to impose his brutal son on our country, which his family believes is the reason he is being persecuted and held incommunicado".
Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, is the head of the Ugandan army and widely seen as the likely successor to his father.
Kainerugaba last month boasted on social media that he had kidnapped one of Wine's aides and was torturing him in his basement.
The United Nations and several rights organisations have expressed concern about repression against opposition groups ahead of the election.
"Enforced disappearances are currently a serious problem in many parts of Uganda," the law society said.
Meanwhile, Museveni has confirmed he intends to contest in next year's presidential election, potentially extending his rule in the east African country to nearly half a century.
In a post on social media, late on Saturday, Museveni said he had "expressed my interest in running for... the position of presidential flag bearer," for his ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
The 80-year-old has been ruler of Uganda since 1986 when he seized power after leading a five-year guerrilla war.
The ruling party has changed the constitution twice in the past to allow Museveni to extend his rule, and rights activists have accused him of using security forces and patronage to maintain his grip on power. He denies the accusation.
Museveni said he is seeking reelection to grow the country to a "$500 billion economy in the next five years." Uganda's GDP currently stands at about $66 billion, according to the finance ministry.
The country will hold its presidential election next January, when voters will also elect lawmakers.
(with newswires)