The 26-year-old daughter of well-known Swiss industrialist Pankaj Oswal has been detained without trial in a Ugandan prison. This follows Oswal’s investment of US$100 million into the country to develop the first and only grain-based ENA producer in the East African region. ENA (extra-neutral alcohol) is used in beverages, cosmetics, and high-value pharmaceuticals.

The ENA plant was ramping up production when Oswal’s daughter Vasundhara (top pictured) – who was visiting the site – was seized by armed men purporting to be from law enforcement authorities. The men did not show identification or provide a warrant for their activities, nor did they give reasons for detaining Vasundhara before aggressively bundling her out of the premises and then taking her into custody.  

Vasundhara has been detained since 1 October.

An urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) was filed today. The WGAD is an expert body of international human rights specialists appointed by the Human Rights Council and mandated to investigate precisely this kind of misuse of States’ police powers, to shine a light on abuse and to intervene with the governments responsible. Uganda is obliged to cooperate with the UN’s human rights mechanisms, including the WGAD.

Vasundhara has been denied her basic rights during her detention. Prison conditions have been described as “horrific” and “dangerous”. She suffers from underlying health conditions and is acutely vulnerable after being forced to spend days in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, without hygienic drinking water or washing facilities. At night she has slept on the floor in a single room shared with up to ten other convicted criminals. In addition to this, the 26-year-old has been:

• Denied access to appropriate vegetarian food, in line with her religion.
• Moved from prison-to-prison multiple times without notice, in an apparent attempt to make it difficult for her family and lawyers to meet with her.
• Unable to make contact with her family for days at a time.

Several colleagues of Vasundhara’s have also been detained, including her company’s lawyer in Uganda, Rita Ngabire. Ms Ngabire would have been an integral part of the legal team standing up for the rights of Vasundhara and her other colleagues. As well as an unjustified violation of Ms Ngabire’s liberty and rights, the move appears calculated to critically undermine Vasundhara’s legal defence. 

The company behind the new ENA Factory, PRO Industries, have decried the shocking treatment of the young women. A spokesperson said:

“PRO Industries values its strong relationship with the Government of Uganda. The arbitrary detention of the daughter of our founder, on fantastical charges, is shocking. We call for Vasundhara’s immediate release.”

Vasundhara’s mother, Radhika Oswal, also issued an appeal to the Ugandan government:

“This is every mother’s nightmare. My young daughter has been thrown into a foreign jail. She has been stripped of her basic human rights and her dignity. Vasundhara is an innocent bystander. All I want is her safety, and for her to be back in my arms.”

Cherie Blair CBE, KC has been retained as international human rights counsel and instructed to secure Vasundhara’s release. Ms Blair’s office has stated:

“On the facts reported, the treatment of Vasundhara amounts to arbitrary detention and a manifest breach of her human rights according to domestic, continental and international laws and conventions. Beyond that, Vasundhara is a vulnerable young woman, far from home, who is suffering an incredibly traumatic experience. Omnia Strategy has filed an urgent appeal to the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to seek her urgent release and respect for due process and the rule of law”. By Colins Stevens, EU Reporter