UN Judge Convicted for Forced Labour Abuse

A British jury convicted Ugandan High Court judge Lydia Mugambe on Thursday for forcing a young Ugandan woman to work as a slave whom she “exploited and abused” in the United Kingdom.

According to her profile on the UN website, Mugambe had been appointed to a United Nations court in 2023. The Guardian reported that three months after her appointment, police were called to her address in Oxfordshire. Reports made against her are that Mugambe tricked the victim into coming to the UK with promises of work in a diplomatic household but instead forced her into domestic servitude. Once there, the victim was coerced into unpaid labour, and her passport was confiscated.

The Associated Press reported that the prosecution lawyer Caroline Haughey described Mugambe as exploiting the victim’s lack of rights awareness. Mugambe was studying for a doctorate in law at the University of Oxford when the offences occurred.

Mugambe denied the charges, and insisted she had treated the woman with care and love.

In footage released by Thames Valley Police, Mugambe tried to invoke diplomatic immunity during her arrest, claiming, “I am a judge in my country; I even have immunity. I am not a criminal.” Any immunity she held as a UN judge was waived by the United Nations.

The officer asked to reaffirm that she had immunity; she told the officer, “Yes, I have a diplomatic passport.”

Mugambe will be sentenced on 2 May.