This is an interesting article about anti-death penalty advocate Edmary Mpagi, who was convicted in Uganda for murder and sentenced to death. However, the victim of the crime was not actually deceased. It took Mpagi 18 years to receive an executive pardon, and he was released from prison in July 2000. In this interview, he discusses the conditions of life in Uganda's notorious Luzira Prison and his witnessing of several rounds of executions.
"Most of the prisoners who were executed while I was on death row were innocent but faced the gallows because they were poor. They could not afford to hire lawyers to defend themselves. In our case we had a state lawyer whom we only met twice. We did not have a lawyer in the real sense. There are also cases of widespread torture during interrogations so some suspects, especially in treason cases, end up admitting crimes they have not committed."
"We would hear the crying of inmates (before their execution). Executions normally took place at night. When a prisoner reached the gallows, we would all listen. After a few moments, we would hear a loud sound like a sudden explosion, as the trap doors of the gallows sprang open and the prisoners were dropped to their death. We would then hear the corpses fall with a loud bang on the death table."
AllAfrica.com has the entire article.
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