RWANDAN CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS MEET WITH AMBASSADOR

UNCLAS KIGALI 000540

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/C

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM RW
SUBJECT: RWANDAN CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS MEET WITH AMBASSADOR

REF: A. KIGALI 183


B. KIGALI 219

This is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: During a May 24 meeting with prominent
local civil society leaders, Ambassador expressed U.S.
support of the role of civil society in Rwanda, stressing
the critical balance it brings to government decision-
making. Civil society leaders discussed their goals,
successes, and interactions among themselves and with
government. They indicated that relations with the
government have generally improved and they have been
consulted on new draft legislation concerning NGOs, although
their views are not always taken into account. They are
seeking to coordinate their activities to strengthen their
collective efforts. End summary.


2. (U) On May 24, Ambassador, accompanied by members of a
U.S. delegation visiting Rwanda for a Tripartite Plus
meeting, met with four prominent civil society leaders to
discuss the work of their organizations and the state of
civil and human rights in Rwanda. Ambassador expressed the
Embassy's support for the role of civil society in Rwanda,
which brings critical balance to government decision-making.
The U.S. recognizes the important role of civil society, he
said, and encourages the GOR to recognize this legitimate
role. He noted that while the U.S. can provide some
financial assistance, the critical work must be undertaken
by Rwandans. Following are brief descriptions of the four
civil society organizations.

Background
--------------

3. (U) Haguruka ("stand up" in the Kinyarwanda language) was
established in 1991 to promote and defend women's and
children's rights. It provides community-based training on
human rights, with special focus on women's and children's
rights. It also provides simplified explanations of
legislation, such as the laws on succession and protection
of children against violence, through mass media, and legal
advice and advocacy assistance. During the past five years,
Haguruka has succeeded in restoring the rights, including
compensation in some cases, of more than 10,000 women and
children. Haguruka has also been involved in the promotion
of land rights and adoption of laws on domestic violence and
protection of children against violence.


4. (U) LIPRODHOR (Rwandan League for the Promotion and
Defense of Human Rights) was established in 1991 to focus on
human rights protection and awareness. The nationwide
organization currently has an estimated 600 members. It
conducts field investigations of suspected human rights
abuses, publishes reports, and discusses its findings with
the GOR and the National Human Rights Commission. In
politically sensitive cases, LIPRODHOR collaborates with
other organizations to put more pressure on the government.
It is conducting follow-up of gacaca proceedings to address
concerns that have been raised, and has been successful in
obtaining dismissal of some cases of false accusations. It
publishes a newsletter that explains new legislation,
produces a weekly radio program, and maintains a website.


5. (U) AJPRODHO (Youth Organization for the Promotion of
Human Rights and Development) was founded in 1997 by
students at the National University of Rwanda in Butare to
"enlighten youth about their responsibility to protect human
rights." It has established human rights clubs in primary
and secondary schools to instill core human rights values,
and provides legal advice and advocacy. AJPRODHO and
Haguruka jointly lobbied parliament to enact legislation to
provide legal representation to vulnerable groups in Rwandan
society. AJPRODHO is working to mobilize civil society
groups to "speak with one voice" to maximize their
influence, and is urging policymakers to incorporate human
rights and justice issues in the national growth and poverty
reduction strategy paper.


6. (U) LDGL (Human Rights League in the Great Lakes Region)
is a regional human rights organization based in Kigali with
chapters in neighboring Burundi and DRC. Its activities
include observing local elections and monitoring human
rights violations in collaboration with local organizations
and other partners. LDGL advocacy initiatives are aimed at
promoting good governance and freedom of expression and
press in collaboration with the media, diplomatic community,
and international organizations.

GOR Interaction with Civil Society
--------------

7. (U) When asked about the interaction between the GOR and
civil society, LDGL Executive Secretary Francine Rutazana
characterized the government's attitude toward civil society
as gradually improved as far as "the government has become
aware of the presence of an increasingly important civil
society." During the February local elections (ref A),LDGL
deployed 30 observers who reported some irregularities.
According to Rutazana, the presence of observers during the
elections was a signal to the GOR that there were people
watching government actions.


8. (SBU) Rutazana pointed out that the major problem in the
relationship between the GOR and civil society on
politically motivated decisions, such as the recent
decentralization and the 2003 provisional release of
genocidaires, is that the GOR is reluctant to consult civil
society. She noted that this problem exists at the national
as well as local government levels, from top to bottom. She
was hopeful, however, that increasingly professional and
experienced civil society groups would have a positive
impact on government decision-making.


9. (SBU) Haguruka Executive Secretary Christine Tuyisenge
commented that the issue of whether the GOR is attempting to
control civil society has been a subject of debate since
2002 when the GOR first recognized civil society as a
crucial partner. She pointed out that civil society groups
are required by law to register each year and to provide
reports on their activities to the Ministry of Local
Government. She observed, however, increasing collaboration
between civil society and the GOR, particularly on poverty
reduction and proposed legislation. She noted that a
women's umbrella organization (Profemmes Twese Hamwe) is
playing a lead role in the reformulation of the law on non-
profit organizations.


10. (SBU) AJPRODHO President Ronald Nkusi acknowledged that
Rwandan civil society groups have not been very assertive in
engaging the GOR. He pointed out that the GOR is using
"trickier" strategies than before in dealing with civil
society. The GOR requires NGOs to obtain authorization from
the GOR for some projects, depending on the nature of the
project, before they can access funds provided by their
international partners. (Note: LIPRODHOR, for example, was
required to obtain authorization from the Ministry of
Finance to access funds for an EU-funded project. End
note). According to Nkusi, this may generate further
government restrictions on local organizations' access to
international donor funds.

Proposed NGO Bill
--------------

11. (U) Haguruka's Tuyisenge indicated that consultations
between the GOR and civil society on a proposed NGO bill
were positive but that civil society's recommendations have
not been incorporated into the draft legislation. (Note:
Most recently, the Ministry of Local Government accepted
most of the recommendations proposed by NGOs on the latest
draft, which will soon go to the cabinet for a vote. End
note.)


12. (U) LDGL's Rutazana explained that the NGO "Profemmes,"
rather than the civil society platform, is taking the lead
role on the pending NGO legislation because civil society
groups prefer to use informal consultation mechanisms for
specific issues and to resort to the civil society platform
as part of formal consultations with the government on broad
issues.

Gacaca
--------------

13. (SBU) LIPRODHOR Executive Secretary Jean Paul
Turinzwenamungu observed that a major problem with gacaca is
interference by government officials at all levels of the
process, which has a negative impact on the independence of
gacaca judges. He also noted lack of sufficient security
for witnesses and gaps in the legislation, such as ill-
defined provisions concerning contempt of court, which lead
to abuses in interpretation. He pointed out that there are
unresolved cases of accusations based on personal agendas
and judges' biases and that the gacaca law, which provides
for only one level of appeal, does not provide sufficient
guarantee of fair and impartial justice.


14. (U) LDGL's Rutazana pointed out that the National
Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions does not have legal
authority to change the venue of gacaca proceedings, but
that its role is nevertheless important in resolving cases
of arbitrary arrest and detention.

Parliamentary Report on Genocide Ideology
--------------

15. (SBU) According to LIPRODHOR's Turinzwenamungu, the 2004
parliamentary report on genocide ideology recommended the
dissolution of several organizations. The GOR, however, did
not take action on the recommendations. Following
publication of the report, many civil society leaders
criticized the methodology used by the parliament in
producing its report because it did not interview or consult
with those named. He also commented that the report did not
provide a clear definition of "genocide ideology," a term
subsequently liberally applied to civil society members
viewed by the regime as political opponents.


16. (SBU) LDGL's Rutazana added that the parliamentary
report was published shortly after the 2003 presidential and
parliamentary elections, during which the term "genocide
ideology" had been used to undermine certain candidates for
political purposes. Rutazana believed that the intent of
the report was to discredit and neutralize political
opposition.


17. (SBU) AJPRODHO's Nkusi pointed out that while the GOR
has not acted on the report, some organizations are "still
shaken" and the report has had a lingering impact in
undermining the credibility of civil society. He noted that
under the pretext of enforcing the prohibition against
"genocide ideology," the government suppressed organizations
that were critical of the government. He asserted that
while some individual members of LIPRODHOR may have been
involved in genocide ideology, it was unfair of parliament
to label the group as a whole as a genocide ideologist. He
suggested that one way to avoid the abuse of accusations of
genocide ideology in domestic politics would be to clarify
the law.


18. (SBU) Nkusi noted that while relations between the GOR
and civil society remain difficult on politically sensitive
issues, he was optimistic that the situation is improving,
particularly on less sensitive issues, such as economic
development and judicial reform.

Comment
--------------

19. (SBU) Despite charges of GOR intolerance of criticism
and the lingering effect of the 2004 parliamentary report on
civil society groups, ongoing activism of these groups
suggests that the government not only tolerates, but in some
cases is even receptive to, criticism of its policies.
President Kagame has challenged government officials to
closely monitor government operations and to be self-
critical (ref B); civil society groups provide the critical
additional balance to government actions. Although
seemingly cautious of pressing the government too hard and
somewhat tentative in engaging the GOR, they have achieved
successes that provide grounds for optimism that they will
continue to develop into effective public policy advocates
through their collective efforts, as evidenced most recently
by their successful participation in consultations with the
government on the draft law on international NGOs.
THURSTON