A group of nine Rwandans on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Ugandan government at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) seeking compensation for alleged arbitrary arrest, detention and torture.
The group, which consists of mostly members of the Association of Pentecostal Churches in Rwanda (ADEPR) is yet to come to the conclusion of what it expect in terms of compensation, reports said.
Flanked by their lawyer, Emmanuel Butare of MRB Attorneys’, the all-male group appeared at the East African Court of Justice’s Kigali office, where they recounted tales of alleged torture by the Ugandan security organs which has left some of them nursing lifetime injuries.
The move comes after Kigali has expressed its concerns about the fate of hundreds of Rwandans incarcerated in Uganda and with no access to consular services and enduring torture.
Uganda has lately been linked to several anti-Kigali armed groups, including FDLR, the offshoot of forces and militias blamed for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, and FLN, which last year made incursions on Rwandan territory through Burundi, killing at least nine civilians and wounding several others.
Since February this year, Rwandan officials issued a travel advisory warning people against visiting Uganda.
Officials in Kigali also accused neighbouring Uganda of incarcerating dozens of its citizens without consular access, and deportation.
Authorities in Kigali argue that the details of these concerns have been repeatedly communicated to the government of Uganda, without any reaction from Kampala
CU/as/APA