Uganda releases 13 illegally detained Rwandans

This Tuesday, Uganda handed over Thirteen Rwandan nationals to the Rwandan Embassy in Uganda. 

During the ceremony, Uganda's Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa told journalists that the release of Rwandans is aimed; " to clear the way to normalise relations".

Under the Luanda agreement, Rwanda and Uganda agreed, among other things: to protect and respect the rights and freedoms of nationals of the other party residing or transiting in their national territory, and to refrain from engaging in actions that destabilize the other party (or actions perceived to) such as financing, training and infiltration of destabilizing forces.

Some of the released 13 Rwandan nationals have been in detention in Uganda for months, Minister Kutesa said. 

Last Month, nine other Rwandans who had been illegally detained in Uganda for about two years were released by a Ugandan military court and sent back home. 

The most recent Quadripartite summit, which happened in Angola this month and resolved that Uganda and Rwanda would release nationals of each country held and lists submitted to facilitate the objective. 

During the opening of the recent third Ad Hoc commission meeting in Kigali, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Charge of East African Community, Olivier Nduhungirehe said that there are currently nine (9) Ugandan citizens serving sentence for various crimes in Rwanda, and who were all accorded consular access and are mentioned in a list Rwanda provided. 

"In the Luanda spirit, Rwanda has also terminated the prosecution of fifteen (15) Ugandan citizens, who were released," Nduhungirehe added. 

Minister Kutesa told journalists on Tuesday that Rwanda had released Ugandans who were detained, including one Ivan Peter Egesa. 

Nduhungirehe also noted that there are still a number of Rwandan nationals detained in various illegal detention facilities in Uganda. 

"Several notes verbales were issued to the Government of Uganda, with details particulars of detainees and requesting for consular access. However, all those requests were never honoured. At the same time, Rwandan citizens are now dying due to sustained torture by operatives of Uganda’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI)," State Minister Nduhungirehe said, adding; "A recent sad example is that of one Emmanuel Mageza, 50 years old, who was tortured for more than a year in CMI barracks, recently died in Butabika Mental Hospital and hastily buried in Uganda. His family demands justice and the repatriation of his body for a decent burial,"