Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIGALI181
2006-02-23 15:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kigali
Cable title:  

RWANDA SENATE ASSERTS AUTONOMY, SUMMONS MINISTERS

Tags:  PGOV KDEM PHUM RW 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHLGB #0181 0541559
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231559Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2405
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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UNCLAS KIGALI 000181 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/C AND DRL
EUCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA SENATE ASSERTS AUTONOMY, SUMMONS MINISTERS
TO PUBLIC HEARINGS

This is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.

UNCLAS KIGALI 000181

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/C AND DRL
EUCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA SENATE ASSERTS AUTONOMY, SUMMONS MINISTERS
TO PUBLIC HEARINGS

This is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.


1. (U) Summary: On February 2 and 9, Internal Affairs
Minister Christophe Bazivamo and Justice Minister Edda
Mukabagwiza were summoned by the Senate to two public
hearings to address questions on national security and
judicial issues. Senators expressed concerns over serious
human rights violations, including purported government
secret detention facilities, reported by the National Human

SIPDIS
Rights Commission (NHRC). Senate recommendations from the
ad hoc hearings included improving public perception of the
police and publishing regular updates on national security
policies. End summary.


2. (U) Pro-government newspaper "The New Times" (TNT) and
state-owned TV Rwanda and Radio Rwanda reported that
Internal Affairs Minister Bazivamo denied any knowledge of
the alleged secret detention centers, saying that "maybe
people were referring to some ill-equipped detention
facilities." In reaction to Bazivamo's statement, Senator
Ayinkamiye pointed out that secret detention centers were
mentioned in 2002, 2003 and 2004 NHRC reports, according to
TNT. Senator Kubwimana indicated that the reports
identified a detention center at the Police Criminal
Investigation Department office in Gikondo sector of Kigali,
while Senate Vice President Prosper Higiro quoted NHRC
reports on secret prisons in Kibungo, Eastern Province.


3. (SBU) Quoting Senatorial Committee on Political Affairs
Chairperson Immaculee Gahima Kayumba, TNT reported that
committee visits throughout the country revealed that
several security officials were actively involved in illegal
detention activities. TNT reported that "while Bazivamo
said he was unaware of the existence of any such illegal
prisons, Mukabagwiza said investigations into the reports
would be carried out." When specifically asked about these
secret detention centers during a meeting with the

SIPDIS
Ambassador February 23, Police Commissioner General Andrew
Rwigamba denied the existence of such centers.


4. (U) At a follow-up public hearing on secret prisons
February 9, Bazivamo focused on police stations and central
prison detentions. The Minister promised that any illegal
detention cases in secret facilities would be individually
investigated and persons responsible would be prosecuted.
Concluding the public hearing, Senate President Vincent
Biruta commented that the explanations of the Internal
Affairs Minister and Justice Minister were "satisfactory."


5. (U) The Senate made several recommendations to the
government, including "publishing a report at least once
monthly about actions taken in implementing policies related
to security and judicial issues, and progressively working
on promoting the popularity of police and other security
organs." The Senate also recommended that the GOR promptly
publish its official position whenever human rights reports
on Rwanda, including the annual NHRC report, are published.


6. (SBU) Comment: This is not the first time the Parliament
has asserted its autonomy and summoned ministers to a public
hearing to address issues of national concern. The first
such public hearing, held in 1999, resulted in the dismissal
of two ministers (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister
of Transport) for corruption. Since then, no other
ministers have been dismissed. These hearings, open to the
public and conducted on an ad hoc basis, ensure that Rwandan
government officials, including high-ranking presidentially
appointed ministers, continue to be held accountable for
their actions. Such hearings also ensure that important
issues are openly addressed. Secret detention centers, if
they were to exist, would be a serious human rights concern
which would bear close monitoring. Post intends to pursue
this question and will report on further developments.

ARIETTI