Editing Idi Amin (section)

=== Establishment of military rule ===
On 2 February 1971, one week after the coup, Amin declared himself President of Uganda, [[Commander-in-Chief]] of the Armed Forces, Uganda Army [[Chief of Staff]], and Chief of Air Staff. He suspended certain provisions of the [[Constitution of Uganda|Ugandan constitution]], and soon instituted an Advisory Defense Council composed of military officers with himself as the chairman. Amin placed [[military tribunal]]s above the system of [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]], appointed soldiers to top posts in government and [[government-owned corporation]]s, and informed the newly inducted civilian [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet ministers]] that they would be subject to [[military courtesy]].<ref name="britishcouncil" /><ref name="LOC_Rule_Under_Amin">{{Cite web |title=Country Studies: Uganda: Military Rule Under Amin |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716190740/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=Federal Research Division |publisher=United States Library of Congress}}</ref> Amin [[Rule by decree|ruled by decree]]; over the course of his rule he issued approximately 30 decrees.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mugabe |first=Faustin |date=26 May 2019 |title=12 executed as Amin introduces trial of civilians in military |url=https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/12-executed-as-Amin-introduces-trial-civilians-military-courts/689844-5131640-onaekdz/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303230014/https://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/PeoplePower/12-executed-as-Amin-introduces-trial-civilians-military-courts/689844-5131640-onaekdz/index.html |archive-date=3 March 2020 |access-date=3 March 2020 |website=Daily Monitor}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Krcmaric |first=Daniel |title=The Justice Dilemma: International Criminal Accountability, Mass Atrocities, and Civil Conflict |access-date=3 June 2021 |degree=PhD |publisher=Department of Political Science, Graduate School of Duke University |place=Durham, United States |language=English |pages=121–129 |chapter=Chapter 6: Case Studies |chapter-url=https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/9903/Krcmaric_duke_0066D_12863.pdf |via=DukeSpace (Duke University Libraries) |editor1-first=Alexander |editor1-last=Downes |editor2-first=Erik |editor2-last=Wibbels |editor3-first=Laia |editor3-last=Balcells |editor4-first=Peter |editor4-last=Feaver |year=2015}}</ref>

Amin renamed the presidential lodge in Kampala from Government House to "The Command Post". He disbanded the General Service Unit (GSU), an intelligence agency created by the previous government, and replaced it with the [[State Research Bureau (organisation)|State Research Bureau]] (SRB). SRB headquarters at the Kampala suburb of [[Nakasero]] became the scene of [[torture]] and [[capital punishment]] over the next few years.<ref name="LOC_Security">{{Cite web |title=Country Studies: Uganda: Post-Independence Security Services |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716190740/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/ugtoc.html#ug0159 |archive-date=16 July 2012 |access-date=8 August 2009 |website=Federal Research Division |publisher=United States Library of Congress}}</ref> Other agencies used to persecute dissenters included the [[military police]] and the Public Safety Unit (PSU).<ref name="LOC_Security" />

Obote took refuge in Tanzania, having been offered sanctuary there by the Tanzanian President [[Julius Nyerere]]. Obote was soon joined by 20,000 Ugandan refugees fleeing Amin. The exiles attempted but failed to regain Uganda in 1972, through a poorly organised [[Coup d'état|coup]] attempt.<ref name="invasion">{{Cite magazine |date=13 November 1978 |title=An Idi-otic Invasion |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,946151,00.html |access-date=8 August 2009 |magazine=Time}}</ref>