H.E. the President also assented to the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act (2012). It is now an operational Law. Other measures: The Work of the Uganda Human Rights Commission The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda empowers the Uganda Human Rights Commission {UHRC} to carry out various human rights related functions including: Investigating complaints made by any person or group of persons against the violation of any human right and also visiting places of detention with a view to assessing and inspecting conditions of the inmates and monitoring the Government’s compliance with international treaties and conventions. The Commission is an independent body whose work is not subject to the direction or control of any person or authority as per Article 54 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. In its 14th Annual Report to Parliament on the state of human rights in the year 2011, the Commission reported that it had registered 1021 complaints of alleged human rights violations which was a 28% increase from the 797 complaints registered in 2010. The increase in the number of complaints received was attributed to the establishment of a new regional office in Masaka to serve the southern region of the country. The increase was further attributed to the mobile complaints handling program, where the Commission goes to local communities to register complaints of alleged human rights violations. According to its 15th annual report to Parliament for the year 2012, the Commission registered a total of 706 new complaints of alleged human rights violations which was a 31% decrease from the 1021 complaints registered in 2011. The decrease in the number of complaints registered was attributed to the various reforms undertaken by different government institutions to ensure the respect for human rights, including increased human rights awareness by security agencies. While in 2011, UHRC Tribunal heard and concluded 75 complaints of which 41 were decided in favour of the Complainants and 34 were dismissed for want of prosecution, in the year 2012 the Commission heard and concluded 96 complaints of which 25 were decided in favour of the complainants, 10 were settled amicably and 61 cases were dismissed for want of prosecution. In the year 2011, a total of UGX. 699,231,550 (Six hundred ninety nine million, two hundred thirty one thousand and five hundred fifty shillings) was awarded by the UHRC Tribunal to victims of human rights violations compared to UGX 329,880,000 (Three hundred twenty nine million, eight hundred eighty thousand shillings) awarded in the year 2012 Since its inception, the Uganda Human Rights Commission has awarded approximately UGX 3,908,934,974 (Three billion, nine hundred eight million, nine hundred thirty four thousand, nine hundred seventy four shillings) to victims of human rights violations of which the Government has so far paid UGX 1,093,899,461 and remains with an outstanding balance of UGX 2,815,035,515. The UHRC get funding from two sources; Government of Uganda and Development partners. Amount allocated for Financial Year 2011/2012 was UG.X 11.58 billion and UG.X 11.61 billion in FY 2012/2013. Other measures: The setting up of a Directorate of Legal and Human Rights in the Police and the Establishment of the Standing Committee on Human Rights in Parliament in 2012. Article 2: The Right to Non discrimination: Legislative measures: Article 4 Article 21 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda guarantees the right of all persons to equal treatment before and under the law in all spheres of political, economic, social and cultural life and in every other respect. 14