Defending human rights in the UK: The DALFA-Umurinzi Party, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, and Liz Truss
Editor’s Note: A former political prisoner and founder and chair of the DALFA-Umurinzi Party is a person named Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. Her opinions in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.
While Rwanda’s intention to help the UK address its immigration challenges is laudable, the British government must first support Rwanda to live up to Commonwealth values – including respect of human rights and making its political process inclusive and transparent. The country would be prepared for refugees from less fortunate countries in the future.
Just a few weeks into the top job, freshly anointed prime minister Liz Truss doesn’t appear to be changing course anytime soon. (The closest the plan came to happening was in June, when a plane of asylum seekers set for Rwanda was grounded following a last-minute injunction by the European Court of Human Rights).
For now, legal proceedings in the UK rumble on, and the spotlight on Rwanda’s human rights record – including treatment of dissenting voices – remains.
Out of a national population of just over 13 million, the institute listed the total prison population in Rwanda at just over 76,000. Rwanda’s prisoners include thousands detained in connection with the 1994 genocide, the report added.
Rwandan prisoner’s prison for denying the 1994 genocide: The 1970 Uganda prison asylum seeker and Uganda’s supreme court
For two days I was kept in handcuffs, making it impossible to sleep. These were only removed so I could eat or use the toilet. A police doctor was summoned for my health to rapidly decline. I finally got a mattress after he insisted that I get one.
I was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Supreme Court. Although solitary confinement was not part of the sentence, I was kept in the same cell for five years.
This facility is one of the oldest buildings in Kigali, and among the oldest prisons in the country, built some 92 years ago – hence the nickname, “1930.” According to agence de press Africaine, it is no longer operational and the land will be turned over to the catholic church for a cathedral.
The electric bulb made the cell even hotter because it alleviated the darkness when electricity wasn’t always available. Using a candle, I made a small hole in a high-placed, barely reachable window to let in a small amount of fresh air.
I was dragged into judicial proceedings and convicted of denying the genocide that happened in 1994 in Rwanda because of my political views.
Not only was my back damaged from long hours spent poring over my case documents on the floor of my bare cell, but my iron levels also dropped severely from lack of exposure to sunlight. I developed spots on my skin from wearing clothes dried in a dark, humid room. I was forced to file my claim against the government of Rwanda at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/03/opinions/rwanda-prison-uk-asylum-seeker-umuhoza/index.html
Observations of rwanda prison uk asylum-seeker umuhoza: The first 100 days in prison
After a doctor noted my condition, my outdoor time had been increased to three hours per week. I spent more time outside on Friday because my supporters came from all over the country.
But prison management swiftly responded by limiting my visits to only five guests for a 10-minute interval. This was changed to a single guest for 10 minutes.
Improvements in some prisons have been made since my release. Food shortages and other problems persist. Jailed government detractors are physically and emotionally tortured.
There were women who were poor who had committed crimes of desperation. A single mother serving a three-year prison sentence for selling illegal alcohol after she lost her fruit vendor career was one of the people I met.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/03/opinions/rwanda-prison-uk-asylum-seeker-umuhoza/index.html
Why did President Rishi Sunak leave the United Kingdom? The High Court ruled yesterday that the deportation of many asylum-seekers in the UK had been lawful
After eight long years in prison, I received a presidential pardon at the end of the year and was released. The ministry of justice gave approval to my release under the condition that I did not leave the country without it. I have made a request several times in order to visit my family in the Netherlands, but the ministry has never responded to me, even though my husband is seriously ill.
Indeed eight of my supporters are in prison today, due to a book they acquired and an online training session they attended to learn politics of nonviolence. They have been arrested for almost a year without any court judgement, and never denied their actions.
LONDON — The High Court in London issued a long-awaited ruling Monday that found a controversial British immigration policy was lawful, months after the U.K. government first introduced the plan to deport hundreds of potential asylum-seekers to Rwanda, where their claims would be heard and decided by Rwandan authorities.
In several of the cases that the court considered, Priti Patel, a previous interior minister who served under Boris Johnson, had implemented the policy in a “flawed” manner.
The first chartered aircraft designed to transport dozens of migrants designated for deportation late this summer left entirely empty, after every individual was able to challenge the grounds for removal from Britain — some of them just minutes before their scheduled departure.
The growing number of refugees arriving in southern England in small boats or trucks from France has presented a problem for the Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
In the year to June 2022, the U.K.’s national statistics office recorded more than half a million net migrant arrivals through government-approved routes, up from 173,000 in the year before. Meanwhile, more than 45,000 migrants have arrived in small boats across the English Channel from France so far this year, compared with fewer than 30,000 in 2021.
The proposal was raised with concern by international organizations, including the United Nations’ refugee agency.
The tragic events of a boat capsized in Dover and the next day: A young Sudanese lawyer says Britain’s deportation policy should never take effect
In the very early hours of a snowy day in December, a boat ran into trouble around 30 miles west of the port city of Dover, understating the significance of the situation. Dozens of people were pulled alive from the water, but at least four died, despite a large and rapid rescue effort. Dozens died when another boat capsized in late last year.
A young man from Sudan has told NPR he arrived in Britain in the back of a truck. Police placed him in handcuffs soon after he arrived, he says, and he was detained for more than two months before lawyers won his release on bail.
Sophie Lucas, one of the lawyers working at the Duncan Lewis law firm that represents him, says Britain’s entire deportation policy should be prevented from ever taking effect.
Lucas said that they are looking to make sure that their clients don’t end up in Rwanda. It is sad to see someone removed to a country where their rights may not be respected.