Rwanda is ‘authoritarian state’, British High Court told as challenge over policy begins

Protesters outside the High Court in London (Aaron Chown/PA)

Rwanda is an “authoritarian state” that “tortures and murders those it considers to be its opponents”, the British High Court has heard at the outset of a legal challenge against the UK government’s plan to deport some asylum seekers to the east African country.

Raza Husain QC, representing a number of those bringing the case against British Home Secretary Priti Patel, told the court on Monday: “Rwanda is in substance a one-party authoritarian state with extreme levels of surveillance that does not tolerate political opposition.”