Rwanda's Victoire Ingabire asks EA Court of Justice to restore her civic rights

KIGALI | Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire has asked the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to compel authorities in Kigali to restore her civic rights.

Ms Ingabire, who has been living under virtual house arrest in Kigali since 2018, attempted to gain her civic rights in March with hope of running in the July 15 presidential election.

But the High Court in Kigali denied her application for rehabilitation, preventing her from even travelling out of Rwanda.

"I hoped to participate as a candidate, advocating for change and democracy," Ms Ingabire, leader of the Development and Liberty For All (DALFA-Umurinzi), said following the controversial March ruling.

"The refusal of my rehabilitation is not merely a personal setback but is emblematic of the broader issues facing our nation, issues that human rights organisations and development partners of Rwanda have long criticised."

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On Tuesday, April 30, Ms Ingabire's team of lawyers told the EACJ that the Kigali court's decision represents the latest episode in a series of systematic efforts by Paul Kagame's government to prevent their client from participating in Rwandan political life.

"The decision violates Rwanda’s obligations under the East African Community Treaty, which require Rwanda to abide by fundamental principles of democracy, rule of law, and human rights," the lawyers said.

Ms Ingabire prays the EACJ urgently issues interim measures to prevent the irreparable harm that would be caused from precluding her from registering as a presidential candidate in line with the road map for the presidential election.

She also wants the Court to remove restrictions preventing her from leaving Rwanda.

Since her pardon in September 2018, Ms Ingabire has been prevented from leaving the central African state, including to attend the wedding of her son, the birth of her grandchild, or to visit her ailing husband in the Netherlands.

The Nile Post understands Ms Ingabire and her lawyers are praying for the EACJ to set a hearing date and pronounce itself in time for her to pick up her voice and hit the campaign trail.

Yet there are lingering fears that if the EACJ ruled in favour of the petition, the Kigali government could still frustrate her release.

Ms Ingabire's Kenyan attorney Emily Osiemo told the Nile Post they would go back to court and cite Kigali for contempt of the court.

"The legal obligations under the EAC Treaty must be complied with," Ms Osiemo said. "In my years of practice at the EACJ, EAC partner states have always complied."

Ms Ingabire has previously told this reporter that her determination to participate in an election whose result she considers already decided is to awaken the masses to their democratic rights and rule of law.

"I've no intention of giving up," said the 55-year-old who is yet to appear on the ballot after two decades in politics.

"I decided to campaign for the establishment of democracy. A rule of law and respect for human rights in our country and in the interest of all Rwandans."

Ms Ingabire is represented by Rwandan lawyer Gatera Gashabana as well as Kenyan lawyers Emily Osiemo and Elisha Ongoya, who are supported by an international legal team composed of Kate Gibson, Sheila Paylan, Philippe Larochelle and Iain Edwards.

Arrested on return

In January 2010, Ms Ingabire returned to Rwanda from exile in the Netherlands to participate in the presidential elections scheduled for later  that year.

Instead, she was arrested days later for comments she made at her very first stop in Kigali - Genocide Memorial Centre in Gisozi - and later sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Ms Ingabire, a Hutu ethnic, had urged Kagame's government to also consider paying a tribute to moderate Hutu who paid with their lives for protecting Tutsi from machete-wielding extremists.

Authorities in Kigali charged her with genocide revision and denial in a trial that was internationally condemned as being politically motivated.

She appealed before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights which ruled that the Rwandan State had violated her rights to freedom of expression and a defense.

In September 2018, Ms Ingabire was released on a presidential pardon, after serving eight years in prison.

She said she spend five of the eight years in solitary confinement.