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A former United Nations Criminal Tribunal judge and human rights advocate has been found guilty of modern slavery charges in the United Kingdom. Lydia Mugambe, 49, was convicted by a unanimous Oxford Crown Court jury for multiple offenses, including forced labor and immigration law violations.
The Ugandan national, who resided in Kidlington, England, had an impressive career background, serving as a High Court judge in Uganda and holding memberships in prestigious organizations like the Oxford Human Rights Hub and the International Association of Women Judges. Her advocacy for gender justice had previously earned her recognition, including the People’s Choice Gavel Award from Women’s Link Worldwide in 2017 and the Vera Chirwa human rights award from the University of Pretoria.
“Lydia Mugambe used her position to exploit a vulnerable young woman, controlling her freedom and making her work without payment,” stated Eran Cutliffe, special prosecutor for the Crown Prosecutor Services’ Special Crime Division. “Modern slavery and the exploitation of people by others for their own purposes has no place in modern society.”
United Nations judge Lydia Mugambe is arrested for forcing a young woman to work as a slave. Kind of screws the pooch for the UN and their human trafficking operations pic.twitter.com/uIJKFbfpmO
— • ᗰISᑕᕼIᗴᖴ ™ • (@4Mischief) March 13, 2025
The case emerged when Thames Valley Police received information about Mugambe holding a young woman in servitude at her Kidlington residence. Investigation revealed that Mugambe had arranged the victim’s entry into the UK through a visa scheme supposedly for employment with John Mugerwa, the deputy high commissioner at the Ugandan Embassy in London.
After facilitating the victim’s travel to the UK, Mugambe confined her to unpaid domestic work, confiscating her passport, biometric visa card, and phone. Prosecutors alleged that Mugerwa was complicit in the scheme, agreeing to facilitate the visa in exchange for Mugambe’s assistance with his legal matters in Uganda. However, Mugerwa avoided prosecution due to diplomatic immunity.
🚨🇬🇧UN JUDGE FOUND GUILTY OF KEEPING WOMAN AS A SLAVE IN UK
Ugandan UN judge Lydia Mugambe told police she had diplomatic immunity when they arrested her for keeping a woman as an unpaid servant in her Oxfordshire home.
Mugambe tricked her victim into coming to the UK, forcing… pic.twitter.com/GmvwI0ZhSE
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 14, 2025
Chief Superintendent Ben Clark emphasized that Mugambe’s legal background made her actions particularly egregious. “There is no doubt that she knew she was committing offenses by bringing the victim to the U.K. under the pretense that she was going to work for the then Deputy High Commissioner at the Ugandan Embassy in London, thus providing her a legal route of entry, but knowing all along that she intended to make the victim work in servitude.”
Law enforcement officials noted that Mugambe attempted to leverage her connections with the UN and Ugandan High Court to evade responsibility for her actions.
