RWANDA: FY 2006 ESF PROJECT PROPOSALS

UNCLAS KIGALI 000381

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AFIN AMGT EAID ECON PGOV PHUM PREL RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA: FY 2006 ESF PROJECT PROPOSALS

REF: STATE 59002


1. Per reftel post submits the following summaries of two
proposed projects for FY 2006 Africa regional ESF funding,
including the total amount requested for each project and an
explanation of how the projects would advance our MPP
objectives and U.S. national interests. The projects focus
on strengthening the judicial sector and media
professionalism and press freedom in Rwanda, both of which
are critical elements of our MPP strategic goals. Embassy
developed these proposals in close consultation with USAID-
Rwanda.

Justice Sector
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2. Post requests USD 500,000 for justice sector reforms.
The justice sector in Rwanda has made notable progress in
the last several years, including Constitutional support for
a fully independent judiciary in 2003, a complete overhaul
of judicial staff in 2004, and jurisdictional restructuring
to match new executive administrative regions in 2006.
Unfortunately, while these reforms have substantially
improved and modernized the Rwandan court system, they have
also exacerbated a substantial backlog of cases. The
regular court system now has a backlog of over 47,000 cases
(for about 250 judges). This is expected to worsen as
category 1 genocide cases (the most serious category of
genocide-related crimes) are transferred from gacaca courts.
However, the justice sector is taking the problem very
seriously, and is preparing an approach that will include
temporary circuit-riding teams of judges and prosecutors as
well as a longer-term approach to build IT links among
courts, prosecutors, and police. Aiding this effort would
strengthen the rule of law in Rwanda, and contribute to the
country's continued stability and evolving democracy.


3. USAID has experience with similar activities in other
countries (e.g., Kosovo and Serbia),and would draw on this
expertise in designing a program, in conjunction with the
Rwandan Supreme Court and other partners, to reduce the case
backlog. Support would likely include: training in case
management for court registrars and clerks; development of
streamlined case management procedures; short-term
assistance by law students (or similar) in reviewing and
making initial viability recommendations on old files; and
support for expansion of IT facilities. The activity
itself would be managed by USAID and implemented through a
USAID rapid contracting mechanism (IQC). Progress toward
MPP goals would be measured by the rate at which the pending
cases are processed and by the overall reduction in volume.


4. A sub-element of this project would support a judges'
association to help more aggressive mid/lower-level judges
push for more judicial independence, the local abunzi
(mediation committees),and further training on court
financing. The draft report for the recently completed
USAID-funded court financing project recommended
substantially more training in this area.

Press
--------------


5. Post requests USD 200,000 to improve media
professionalism. While Rwandan media today enjoy greater
freedom than they have in recent years, they also suffer
from some restrictions and from extensive government
criticism and harassment. It is true that Rwandan
journalism is of a uniformly low quality, and some
criticisms are justified. Embassy proposes addressing this
problem by supporting a media training center, the "Great
Lakes Media Institute," in Kigali.


6. The center, which has already attracted pledges of
substantial support from American media outlets, would work
with the National University of Rwanda (NUR) Journalism
School to promote the strengthening of the journalism
environment through training. The training center would
serve as an extension program of the NUR School of
Journalism and Communication to strengthen the school's
mission of reaching out to the journalist community. NUR
journalism students would receive academic credit for
studies completed at the institute. NUR professors could
periodically teach and/or take courses, and visiting
journalism lecturers and experts at the institute could
conduct short courses at NUR.


7. This training, documentation and research initiative
aims to elevate the current quality of journalism in radio,
televisions, newspapers, photojournalism, the multimedia
sector and documentary video for practicing journalists and
university students in Rwanda and the Great Lakes region.
More objective and reliable media in Rwanda would help
reduce tensions in the country and the region, and provide
citizens with a better opportunity to make informed
decisions about governance and economic issues. Support for
the institute would be managed by USAID through a grant or
cooperative agreement with the Great Lakes Media Institute,
which would run the training courses. Progress toward
achieving MPP strategic goals in the area of enhancing
democratic systems and practices would be measured by the
number of participating trainees and the degree to which the
Rwandan government stops criticizing the overall caliber of
journalists and specific newspaper articles and radio
broadcasts.

Arietti