UN judge 'exploited and abused' Ugandan woman she kept as enslaved while in UK

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Judge Lydia Mugambe (photo credit: UNITED NATIONS)

Mugambe was appointed to the UN's judicial roster in May 2023, three months after police were called to her address in Oxfordshire, according to her UN profile page.

Prosecutors asserted that Mugambe took “advantage of her status” over her victim and that, in order to force the Ugandan woman to work as her maid, she prevented her from maintaining other employment.

Caroline Haughey KC, prosecuting, told jurors, “On her  [the Ugandan woman's]  arrival, she was made to work for Ms. Mugambe from the very start, unremunerated and acting as maid and for child care to give Ms. Mugambe back her life.

“Deprived of her freedom to choose her own work, to control her ID documents, she was beholden to Ms Mugambe," Haughey KC added.

Mugambe’s trial heard she had the intention of “obtaining someone to make her life easier and at the least possible cost to herself.”

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Diplomatic immunity

Thames Valley Police released footage of Mugambe’s arrest, in which she was said to appear shocked at her detainment.

"I am a judge in my country. I even have immunity. I am not a criminal," she told an officer before assuring him that she held a diplomatic passport. By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD, The Jerusalem Post