Rwandan female opposition leader seeks intervention for election rights

Ingabire, who leads the opposition, is seeking permission to participate in the upcoming national elections in July as both a voter and a candidate.

Filed by Lumumba & Ayieko Advocates, her application requests a court order to ensure her political party registration and candidacy before the May 30 deadline. The petition highlights, "That the honourable court be pleased to issue an order compelling Ms Ingabire to register a political party and participate in the July 2024 presidential elections as a candidate pending the inter-partes hearing," the East African reports.

Ingabire's application further noted the Rwandan government's failure to grant her authorization to travel, which she argues violates the East African Community (EAC) Treaty principles on human rights, the rule of law, accountability, and transparency. “The actions of the Rwandan government in ignoring Ms Ingabire’s multiple requests for authorization to leave the country are in breach of the fundamental and operational principles of the EAC Treaty,” the petition asserted

A staunch critic of President Paul Kagame, Ingabire was imprisoned for eight years, five of which were in solitary confinement. She was released in 2018 on a presidential pardon. Despite the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights ruling that Rwanda violated her right to freedom of expression, the government has not acknowledged this decision.

Ingabire stated, "I cannot run for any elections unless I am rehabilitated. Laws allow President Kagame to do so. Whether he will accept to rehabilitate me, I do not know,” she told the East African in 2023.

The National Election Commission (NEC) of Rwanda has set the application period for presidential candidates from May 17 to May 30.