Convicted of Literal Slavery: Judge and Ex-Human Rights Fellow at Columbia University Kept African House Slave

Despite their often scathing disdain for those who maintain a traditional moral compass, many progressives are some of the most sanctimonious voices in our society—and frequently, they don’t live up to their own lofty rhetoric.

Take Lydia Mugambe, for example. She’s spent the past two years serving as a judge for the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals and has held a fellowship at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. On the surface, she appears to embody the ideals of justice and equality.

However, last month, Mugambe was convicted of a series of grave human rights violations—including the shocking crime of enslaving another person.

At 49, Mugambe was found guilty in the United Kingdom for trafficking a woman into the country, as reported by the U.K.'s Independent.

Additional charges included facilitating unlawful immigration, imposing forced labor, and intimidating a witness.

Mugambe, a Ugandan national, challenged the accusations, telling the BBC that she had always treated the woman she exploited “with love, care, and patience.”

Nevertheless, the BBC noted that she exploited “her status” to dominate the woman, denying her the opportunity to earn a living.

Instead, the woman was forced into household servitude—cleaning floors, washing dishes, taking out the garbage, and looking after children.

When asked about her making the woman pick the children up from school, Mugambe responded that “she loved doing it because she was seeing how people lived in the U.K., and also she was getting to talk to people.”

Police had received prior reports alleging the woman was confined to her room.

These blatant abuses are particularly ironic given Mugambe’s professional focus on human rights.

Her Columbia fellowship entailed creating “individual projects that address some aspect of a history of gross human rights violations in their society,” according to the program’s website.

The United Nations even highlighted that she had “published and presented on issues of human rights and children’s rights.”

Anyone interested in Mugambe’s genuine stance on human rights might have done better to look into that locked room in her home rather than her public work.

This case serves as yet another example of a progressive figure leading a double life—publicly championing “human rights” while secretly engaging in horrific abuses.

But the problem doesn’t stop with Mugambe. Institutions like Columbia and the United Nations often embody the same duplicity.

Columbia is currently showing leniency toward Hamas sympathizers while turning a blind eye to widespread anti-white sentiment on campus.

Meanwhile, the U.N. has long faced criticism for sexual abuse committed by its peacekeeping forces, and for the inclusion of oppressive regimes—like Sudan and China—on its Human Rights Council.

Given these contradictions, neither organization can be viewed as a credible defender of human rights.

Mugambe’s association with both institutions seems, unfortunately, all too appropriate.