The Ugandan General Court Martial on Tuesday ordered for the release of seven Rwandans after prosecution told the court that they had lost interest in the case. Those who were released are civilians but have been languishing in Ugandan military prisons for as long as three years and were all charged with espionage. Rene Rutagungira a Rwandan businessman who was abducted from a bar in Kampala in August 2017, is among those who were released. Others confirmed by sources to have been freed include Emmanuel Rwamucyo and Augustin Rutayisire who were arrested with Rwamucyo in 2018 and charges against them have continued changing from illegal possession of a firearm to espionage among others. Others freed are Bahati Mugenga, Etienne Nsanzabahizi, Charles Byaruhanga and Claude Iyakaremye. Hundreds of other Rwandans remain in ungazetted detention facilities in Uganda, an issue that Rwanda has continue to raise with their Ugandan counterparts with little success. Many of the previous victims had gone missing for years or months before turning up at the Rwanda border nursing torture wounds, some in conditions so dire it resulted in death while others were left with permanent health damage. Besides abduction of Rwandans by Ugandan security operatives, the Rwandan government has also accused Kampala of backing terror groups that wish to harm Kigali. In March last year, Rwanda issued an advisory on Uganda travel saying it could not guarantee its citizens’ safety there due the mass abduction of Rwandans on Ugandan streets and other places. A UN report released in December 2018 confirmed that Uganda was a major source of recruits for Rwandan rebel outfits based in eastern DR Congo. Two senior leaders of the FDLR militia arrested by Congolese authorities end 2018 and transferred to Kigali confessed in court that they were seized as they returned from a meeting with Ugandan and RNC officials in Kampala. The meeting had, according to the militia leaders, had been called and chaired by a Ugandan minister.
