As an advocate for democracy and critic of President Paul Kagame, she was the UDF's candidate for the Rwandan 2010 presidential elections, but was ultimately arrested and sentenced to prison.
Umuhoza has been quoted as saying "My objective is to introduce Rwanda to the rule of law and a constitutional state where international democratic standards are respected, where patriotism will at last be the cornerstone for all public institutions.
[9] 13 September 2012, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, together with two other Rwandan political figures (Bernard Ntaganda and Deogratias Mushyayidi – all currently imprisoned in Kigali), was nominated by 42 MEPs for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2012 of the European Parliament.
Only diaspora-based associations were able to mount an opposition attempt to Rwandan current President Paul Kagame's regime but divisions and political rivalries in diaspora did not make this possible.
[citation needed] Starting from April 2006, she participated in the creation of the United Democratic Forces (FDU) and was elected president of the political platform.
FDU has a goal to install the rule of law in Rwanda, underpinned by the respect of democratic values enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights and other international instruments relating to democracy and good governance.
[16] Umuhoza actively participated in Highly Inclusive Inter-Rwandan Dialogue (HIIRD) project in Barcelona, Spain in 2004, 2006[17] and in April – May 2009[18] under the auspice of Juan Carrero Saralegui, the Nobel Peace Prize candidate[19] and of Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize and Federico Mayor Zaragoza, the vice-president of the Alliance of Civilization.
[20] She proposed following emblematic reforms calling for change in daily life of all Rwandans and the way they relate to politics: Creation of a Committee of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation to help Rwandans towards true reconciliation; Introduction of a non-political commission in charge of rewriting and interpretation of the actual history of Rwanda; The passing of a bill for the right to private ownership and for protection of the weakest members of the public, for the guarantee by the law of equal opportunity and access to credit and employment for all citizens.
[29] 18 October 2012, the Supreme Court of Rwanda dismissed Umuhoza's constitutional review case of Law N° 18/2008 of 23/07/2008 Relating to the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Ideology.
[32] On 30 October 2012, Umuhoza was sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the High Court of Kigali for "conspiracy against the country through terrorism and war" and "genocide denial".
[37][38] On 3 January 2018, Victoire Ingabire filed her Application for reparation and applied to the Court to annul the sentence of imprisonment and its consequences and award her full compensation for the prejudices suffered by herself, her husband and her three children as a result of the violations of her rights as set out in the Judgment of 24 November 2017.
003/2014 judgment on reparations of 7 December 2018, ordered the Respondent State to reimburse the Applicant the amount of ten million, two hundred and thirty thousand Rwandan Francs (FRw 10,230,000) for the entire material prejudice suffered; (iii) orders the Respondent State to pay the Applicant the amount of fifty-five million Rwandese Francs (FRw 55,000,000) as compensation for the moral prejudice she, her husband and her three children suffered; (iv) orders the Respondent State to pay all the amounts indicated in subparagraph (ii) and (iii) of this operative part within six (6) months, effective from the date of notification of its Judgment.
[40][41] According to Rwandan newspaper, The New Times, on 14 September 2018, President Paul Kagame exercised his prerogative of mercy and granted early release to Umuhoza, as well as to 2000 other convicted persons including singer Kizito Mihigo.
Eugène Ndereyimana, also a member of FDU-Inkingi, was reported missing on 15 July, after he failed to arrive for a meeting in Nyagatare, in Rwanda’s Eastern Province.
Boniface Twagirimana, her former party’s deputy leader, who "disappeared" from his prison cell in Mpanga, southern Rwanda, in October 2018 was missing at the time of writing.[47][48][relevant?]
[49][50] Victoire Ingabire is the author of numerous articles and publications where she expressed her views on important issues pertaining to current events in her country and that of the Great Lakes region.