Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
Opposition leader, DALFA-Umurinzi
Re-arrested in June 2025Rwanda's most prominent opposition leader, arrested on her return from exile to stand for the presidency and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Released in 2018, she was re-arrested in June 2025 and remains in the hands of the state.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza is the most prominent opposition figure in Rwanda and the leader of the DALFA-Umurinzi party. In January 2010 she returned from exile in the Netherlands with the intention of standing for the presidency. She was arrested within months, in October 2010, and sentenced to eight years in prison, increased to fifteen years on appeal.
The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights later found that Rwanda had violated her right to freedom of expression and that her speech posed no imminent threat to public order. She was released by presidential pardon in 2018 after eight years in prison.
The state's pressure on her movement, however, has never stopped. Her parties have been blocked from registering, and members of DALFA-Umurinzi have been arrested, tried and imprisoned in proceedings that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has condemned as arbitrary.
In June 2025 she was re-arrested. The arrest of the country's most prominent opposition figure, years after her release, confirms that no critic of the regime is safe. The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights demands her immediate and unconditional release.
History
January 2010
Returns from exile in the Netherlands to stand for the presidency.
October 2010
Arrested and prosecuted for her peaceful political activity.
2013
Her sentence is increased to fifteen years in prison on appeal.
2018
Released by presidential pardon after eight years in prison. Members of her movement continue to be arrested and tried.
June 2025
Re-arrested years after her release. We demand her immediate and unconditional release.
Campaigns & Statements
Our campaigns, statements and reports connected to Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.
Free the Nine Activists Arrested for Reading a Book
Nine Rwandans were arrested for reading and discussing a book on nonviolent resistance. The UN has declared their detention arbitrary. We demand their immediate and unconditional release.
Free Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza - Re-arrested
A new campaign for the release of opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, re-arrested on 19 June 2025 on subversion charges years after her presidential pardon. Her only offence is her peaceful political opposition.
Free Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
A campaign for the release of opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, sentenced to 15 years in prison for the peaceful exercise of her right to speak and to participate in politics.
Criminalising Peaceful Political Expression in Rwanda: The Blueprint for Revolution Case
A special human rights report examining the arrest, detention and prosecution of nine Rwandan citizens over peaceful political activities, including reading and discussing Blueprint for Revolution, and the UN finding that their detention was arbitrary.
Kidnapping and Disappearance in Kigali: Where Is Ms Gasengayire?
FDU-INKINGI treasurer Ms Leonille Gasengayire was kidnapped outside the prison where she regularly brought food for imprisoned party leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. We urge Rwandan authorities to reveal her whereabouts and end such kidnappings.
Rwanda Should Give Opponents Political Space, Not Politically Motivated Prison Sentences
The Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights condemns the High Court verdict against opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, sentenced to eight years in jail on fundamentally politically motivated charges, and urges the Rwandan government to release political prisoners and open up democratic space.