RWANDA AND MCA ELIGIBILITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 KIGALI 000880

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2016
TAGS: EAID EFIN PREL MCC RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA AND MCA ELIGIBILITY


Classified By: Ambassador MArietti, reason 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Rwanda is deeply committed to in becoming
MCA eligible and this has already resulted in positive
changes in GOR attitudes and practices. The GOR understands
that its relatively low ranking in the Ruling Justly
categories has been the main obstacle to MCA eligibility.
President Kagame has directed that the GOR put together an
interagency team to address relevant issues. Over the last
six months, the GOR has participated in an open dialogue with
the Embassy to discuss governance and human rights issues,
such as freedom of the press, the role of civil society, rule
of law and other related issues. President Kagame and a
senior level delegation visited Washington in May for a White
House meeting with the President. The Rwandans were
encouraged by what they saw as a desire on the part of
President Bush that they achieve eligibility. Senior members
of the delegation met with MCC representatives and also had a
meeting with top officials from Freedom House, the reference
organization for key Ruling Justly criteria. The GOR invited
Freedom House to send a delegation to Rwanda for an
on-the-ground assessment of key issues. Freedom House has
responded that it would like to visit, but has not yet set a
date.


2. (U) The GOR acknowledges the need to improve its
performance on democracy/human rights issues, but also
complains that outside observers, particularly international
NGO's like Freedom House and Human Rights Watch, do not give
it credit for improvements that have already occurred. They
argue that few other countries have had to face anything like
the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in a
million deaths and 2-3 million displaced citizens. It is a
fact that Rwanda has implemented dramatic reforms and
overcome huge obstacles in rebuilding itself since the 1994
genocide. Government policy is to build a society in which
individuals see themselves as Rwandans first, not members of
an ethnic group. Rwanda's constitution prohibits
discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, and the GOR
respects this in practice. For example, access to higher
education is on the basis of merit, not ethnicity.


3. (C) During the Embassy/GOR dialogue, we have touched on
many sensitive issues and the Rwandans have never refused to
engage on such questions. We have also seen several specific
positive steps, that we believe are due, at least in part, to
our dialogue on MCA-related issues:

-- the GOR has consulted with stakeholders and moved ahead
with a new law on civil society organizations that responds,
in significant ways, to past complaints about excessive
restrictions;
-- a new Minister of Justice has been appointed who played a
critical role in implementing judicial reform and is a known
advocate for judicial independence;
-- there has been a marked increase during 2006 in the number
of articles criticizing the government both in the
opposition and pro-government press; no newspapers have been
seized or prohibited from publishing (which had occurred in
past years). The GOR is investigating reports of harassment
of journalists. On Aug 14, President Kagame publicly
condemned any such pressures on journalists and called for
investigations of alleged incidents;
-- to help resolve the only serious freedom of religion
issue, the GOR has reaffirmed its commitment to finding an
alternative service for members of the Jehovah's Witness
church who object to night patrol duty. Church officials
have welcomed an improved dialogue with authorities and noted
a significant decrease in problems;
-- the GOR is providing the Embassy with statistics on
convictions for divisionism or supporting genocide ideology
so that we can better understand how this is implemented in
practice;
-- the GOR has cooperated with independent reviews of its
democracy/governance record, including by the African Union's
NEPAD peer review mechanism (Rwanda is the second African
country to submit to this process) and the East African
regional NGO, Kituo Cha Katiba (KCK). Both groups have
published critical, but fair, assessments of Rwanda without
incident.


4. (C) While such steps are welcome, there remain serious
challenges in Rwanda. Rwanda is a state led by one dominant
party and a coalition of much smaller parties. Senior
leaders remain deeply concerned over the possibility of a
resumption of ethnic violence and retain tight control over
security. The GOR is concerned that jailed former President

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Bizimungu would, if released, promote ethnic tensions and it
has not yet acted on his request for clemency. Actions or
speech that could conceivably lead to creating ethnic
tensions are prohibited. Fear of allegations of
'divisionist' activities inhibits critical comments and
activities. This term needs to be more narrowly defined.
Both the AU and KCK reports called on the GOR to permit
greater diversity of political views.


5. (C) Rwanda appears to be a county on the cusp of meeting
key criteria for MCA eligibility. As detailed in this
message, there have been positive trends in improving respect
for rule of law, freedom of the press, respect for the role
of civil society, and professionalization of the police.
Rwanda's constitutional and regulatory procedures regarding
establishment of political parties and the conduct of
elections are relatively open, but there are rather tight
boundaries beyond which political activities are restricted.
The GOR defends this in terms of the need to promote national
unity after the horrors of the 1994 genocide and prevent a
return to the ethnicity based politics of the past that led
to the genocide. We and other critics believe these
restrictions can and sometimes do cross the line in limiting
political freedoms. But these restrictions are not locked in
stone. Positive support and encouragements from the United
States and others will promote additional political openings.


6. (C) In view of Rwanda's positive rankings on most
categories under Investing in People and Economic Freedom,
and the ongoing improvements and positive trends in Ruling
Justly categories, we urge a positive decision on MCA
eligibility, or at a minimum granting threshold status.
Rwanda has a strong record of economic governance and
intolerance of corruption. An MCA program in Rwanda has
excellent prospects for making a dramatic difference in
reducing poverty and moving Rwanda to a point where private
sector investment will provide the engine for rapid economic
growth. End Summary.

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


7. (U) In the past Rwanda has failed to achieve MCA
eligibility primarily due to its inadequate rankings in four
of the six Ruling Justly categories. This message assesses
recent developments in those categories, notes difficulties
in some external assessments of Rwanda, and describes GOR
interest in and efforts to address concerns the United States
has raised in these areas. The GOR is anxious to achieve MCA
eligibility and this interest has already resulted in
positive changes in GOR actions and attitudes. It has
created a senior level MCA team, headed by Minister of
Finance Musoni, to coordinate its efforts. It has also
responded favorably to the suggestion of the US Embassy for
an in-depth discussion of governance and human rights issues.
A senior inter-Ministerial GOR team, headed by former
ambassador to the U.S., Richard Sezibera, has met four times
with the Ambassador and Embassy officials to discuss
sensitive issues. These meetings have included senior GOR
officials from the Ministry of Justic
e, the Prosecutor General's office, the Ministry of Internal
Security, the National Police, the Ministry of Information,
High Council of the Media, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
other concerned offices. Each meeting has lasted 3-4 hours.
They have covered a wide range of issues, including freedom
of the press, the roles of civil society, rule of law, and
political freedoms. Nothing has been kept off the table and
the GOR, while defending itself, has acknowledged areas that
need reform. These meetings will continue and, while not
explicitly linked to MCA eligibility, are covering those
issues where Rwanda's record has been deemed inadequate.

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Control of Corruption
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8. (U) Rwanda has consistently scored well above the median
in this category. The government has a stated zero tolerance
for corruption and there have been many examples of
government officials being dismissed and prosecuted for
corruption and abuse of office. Rwanda takes the struggle
against corruption seriously. The top leadership lives
relatively modestly and there are mechanisms in place, such
as the need for annual disclosure of assets to the Ombudsman,
aimed at ensuring transparency of government operations. The
limited level of corruption is one reason why foreign

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assistance has been effective and international donors have
significantly increased their financial assistance over
recent years. Today the United States is Rwanda's largest
bilateral donor.

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Government Effectiveness
--------------


9. (U) Rwanda's FY 06 score in this category was also above
the median, reflecting a positive trend line over several
years. Judged from the total destruction of institutions and
infrastructure due to the genocide and civil conflict in
1994, the Rwandan government's accomplishments since then
have been remarkable. There has been a wholesale rebuilding
of government institutions, a reduction and reconfiguration
of the public service; a solid record of developing and
implementing solid macroeconomic and social policies. Rwanda
has received high marks from both the World Bank and IMF on
its economic policies. Economic growth has averaged more
than five percent year over the past five years. Lack of
qualified and trained personnel remains a major capacity
challenge, but the government and its donor partners are
putting a major effort into personnel training and education.

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Rule of Law
--------------


10. (U) Rwanda's FY 06 score was only .04 points below the
median and again reflected a positive trend from prior years.
Improvement in the caliber and quality of the judicial
sector has been a major government priority, with the
assistance of the United States, the EU and other donors.
There has been a comprehensive modernization of the legal
code, a restructuring of the court system to bring it into
line with modern practices, a replacement of non-trained
judges and prosecutors with trained personnel, and a series
of efforts to strengthen judicial independence. The recent
appointment of a noted and internationally respected jurist
as Minister of Justice is another example of an overall
commitment to build strong independent judicial institutions.
Overall, Rwanda's achievements in this category have been
consistent and measurable and Rwanda's judiciary today is
probably the most competent and independent it has been since
independence.


11. (U) There are, however, serious remaining challenges.
After the 1994 genocide, more than 120,000 individuals were
detained on genocide-related charges. Those charged with
bearing greatest responsibility for the genocide (Category 1)
are to be tried in the formal court system. This process is
moving slowly. Others, charged with relatively lesser
crimes, are to be tried through the gacaca process, a
modification of a traditional Rwandan dispute resolution
system. The need to rebuild the formal judicial system and
to establish more than 9,000 gacaca courts resulted in the
continued detentions of suspects for years. During 2006, the
gacaca courts moved from the information gathering to the
trial phase and the GOR hopes that all gacaca cases will be
completed by 2007/8. However, the gacaca courts, even if
they are the only possible means of dealing with the large
number of persons accused of involvement in the genocide, are
not perfect and rely on the differing capabilities and
effectiveness of many local individuals. Nevertheless,
USAID-financed polls show that most Rwandans have a positive
view of the gacaca process.


12. (U) Other problems of the judicial process include too
frequent use of excessive force by the police, the
unwillingness of some local authorities to respect court
decisions, for example on property rights, and occasions when
the police do not respect the law prohibiting the holding of
detainees for more than 72 hours without judicial approval.
These violations have been noted by the Rwanda's own Human
Rights Commission and judicial leaders acknowledge the need
to prevent such abuses. Such abuses are usually corrected
when brought to the attention of higher authorities.


13. (C) Trials with a political overtone are also an issue.
Today's corps of judges is relatively new and many of them
are young and inexperienced. Some may well be inclined to
deliver verdicts they believe will please the political
leadership. However, the record is improving. Government
prosecutors have lost cases, even when there has been a clear
political impact. Perhaps the most high profile case has
been that of former President Bizimungu and a group of

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co-defendents, who were convicted in 2004 on a number of
charges related to political activities, and whose appeal was
decided in 2006. The appeals court reversed the convictions
of six of the co-defendents, who were then released. It
upheld the conviction of Bizimungu and his main co-defendant.
Whereas there has been criticism that the 2004 conduct of
the case by a High Court judge did not meet international
standards, the detailed appeals decision by a panel of
Supreme Court judges was seen as much more professional.


14. (C) The Bizimungu case is less an issue of judicial
independence than it is a question of whether Rwanda's
constitutional and legal provisions, forged in the aftermath
of the genocide, against the use of ethnicity for political
purposes (the charge of divisionism) are being misused to
limit free speech and political freedoms. The GOR (and the
initial trial court) assert that former President Bizimungu
had abandoned the policies he had championed as President and
played the 'Hutu ethnicity card' in an effort to appeal for
political support and had transgressed rules on political
activities. (He was also convicted on a separate embezzlement
charge, where the evidence seems much clearer.)


15. (C) The GOR is aware that the Bizimungu case has
received widespread international attention and is perceived
as reflecting a lack of political freedoms. Bizimungu has
asked for a pardon, but in language seen by the GOR as
lacking contrition or a commitment to avoid similar acts in
the future. The government is considering the pardon
decision, but it will be made personally by President Kagame,
who has not indicated what he will do. Kagame is unlikely to
pardon Bizimungu unless he is convinced that doing so will
not encourage the rise of Hutu/Tutsi tensions.

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Voice and Accountability
--------------


16. (U) Civil society organizations had, for the most part,
to be rebuilt from scratch after the genocide. Today, there
is a wide range of civil society NGO's in Rwanda which deal
with a multitude of issues - promotion and protection of
women's rights and those of children, support for survivors
of the genocide, protection of human rights, support for
victims of HIV/AIDS, promotion of religious freedom, labor
unions, professional organizations, development cooperatives,
etc. To be effective, most civil society NGO's seek outside
funding.


17. (U) A recent independent study of civil society
conducted by an East African NGO, 'Kituo Cha Katiba' provides
a useful analysis of the current situation. In brief, the
analysis notes that there are a series of Constitutional
protections for NGO's in Rwanda, including freedom of
association, assembly, the right to form trade unions and
provisions for a multi-party system of government. However,
there are exceptions to these rights which permit state
interference. The study notes that prior to the 1994
genocide, most civil society organizations were directly
controlled or influenced by the government. Since 1994 there
have been a proliferation of civil society organizations in
many areas and, in general, these organizations have more
independence than in prior years. But the government remains
suspicious of foreign influence over some NGO's. The
government has insisted that individual NGO's become members
of umbrella organizations that link NGO's with common goals.


18. (U) There have been a number of issues affecting the
role and organization of NGO's and for the most part these
are moving in a positive direction. Observers have noted
that in Rwanda there has always been a strong culture of
silence, due to past pressures in the pre-1994 period. The
GOR in general believes that NGO's should help to implement a
common national goal of encouraging national unity and
economic development, rather than critizing government
policy. Today there is still a disinclination on the part of
civil society groups to take positions that would label them
as 'political.' Nevertheless, after a series of complaints
from both international and local NGO's that registration and
reporting procedures were too onerous, the GOR initiated a
consultation process with stakeholders that has led to the
introduction of new legislation that addresses NGO concerns.


19. (C) Thee is one red line which neither NGO's nor other
individuals or groups are permitted to cross. This is the
promotion of genocide ideology or divisionism. Both goals
are understandable given the fact that close to one million

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Rwandans were killed during the 1994 genocide. The issue is
not the goal of preventing another genocide, but the
procedures which are being followed to prevent it. Neither
divisionism nor genocide ideology have been adequately
defined by Rwanda's legal code, and this presents a risk that
these terms could be misused to limit political or other
activities.


20. (U) The major incident often cited concerns the
publication in 2004 of a Parliamentary Report on genocide
ideology. A parliamentary commission was set up in 2003
after a number of incidents in which genocide survivors were
killed to prevent them from testifying against individuals
accused of genocide in local 'gacaca' courts. Parliament,
without contacting the concerned organizations/individuals,
published its report, which accused a number of civil society
organizations and individuals of promoting genocide ideology.
The release of the report tarred the reputations of those
listed and led some individuals, particularly of the human
rights NGO, LIPRODHOR, to flee the country.


21. (U) However, the GOR did not accept the Parliamentary
Report as an accurate description of events and insisted that
those accused would need to be properly investigated by
judicial or other authorities. Thus, most NGO's mentioned in
the report, both international and domestic, including
LIPRODHOR, continue to operate freely in Rwanda. Some
individuals, primarily teachers or students, were suspended,
but then reinstated when investigations did not support the
allegations in the Parliamentary Report. Several Rwandan
NGO's have told Embassy officers that they believe the
problems that flowed from the poor preparation and handling
of the 2004 Parliamentary Report have been noted by Rwanda's
leadership and are unlikely to be repeated.

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Freedom of the Press
--------------


22. (U) There is no doubt that in the past the GOR took a
series of steps aimed at limiting the ability of the press to
criticize the government. During the late 1990's and early
years of this century, there were numerous cases where
journalists were detained or arrested and several instances
where individual editions of newspapers were seized by the
police and some newspapers were banned. However, such
incidents have declined markedly over the past few years.
The last instance of a newspaper seizure occurred in 2005
(this was the only such incident in that year). In the past,
several journalists of 'opposition' newspapers have fled the
country (several have since returned). There continue to be
tensions between some 'opposition' journalists and the
government, but as is noted in the independent analysis by
Kituo Cha Katiba, 'there are signs of reduced government
control over the media manifest through the licensing of
Rwanda's first private radios and a more relaxed government
attitude tending towards greater dialogue rather than arrests
and threats when dealing with the independent media.'


23. (U) During 2006, many articles that are harshly critical
of the government have been published without any government
reprisals. In at least one instance, the police have called
journalists in for questioning, but have not placed then
under arrest, initiated judicial charges, or seized any
editions of newspapers. There have been complaints that
journalists received threatening phone calls or other types
of harassment, but the true facts of these incidents are
difficult to discern. Several journalists raised their
concerns about harassment directly with President Kagame
during an August public press conference. Kagame responded
that such practices are prohibited by law and directed the
Minister of Internal Security to investigate. The lack of
trust between some journalists and judicial and police
authorities complicates resolution of these incidents.
Senior GOR authorities have repeatedly stated that such
harassment is not government policy and pledged to fully
investigate such claims. However, journalists have been
unwilling to file formal complaints with the police or
cooperate when asked to meet with the police for questioning
about alleged harassment.


24. (U) The overall quality of journalism in Rwanda is poor.
Many journalists have little if any formal journalism
training. Even the best newspapers often print errors of
fact and there is insufficient effort to separate fact from
the opinion of the writer. There have also been credible
reports of journalists demanding bribes not to print

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negative, but unsubstantiated, articles about government
officials. The Embassy is initiating development of a media
training center in Kigali to improve the professional quality
of journalists. We have also encouraged the GOR to consider
making libel, currently a criminal action, a civil matter.
At the moment, any government figure who wishes to pursue a
libel claim must rely on the police and the prosecutor to
investigate and pursue this case. This inevitably leads to
charges of police harassment.

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Political Freedoms
--------------


25. (U) Rwanda's 2003 Constitution provides for a
multi-party political system and contains a number of
positive provisions aimed at preventing the winner-take-all
results that have in the past led to political conflict in
Rwanda and other developing societies. For example, no party
can hold more than 50 percent of the Cabinet seats and the
President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Chamber
of Deputies cannot be from the same party. Independents have
held key positions such as the Ministry of Finance.
Elections are overseen by an Independent Electoral
Commission, which is not yet fully effective.


26. (U) In 2003, Rwanda held its first ever multi-party
elections for the Presidency and Parliament. Observers
judged them largely peaceful with a large voter turnout, but
noted they were marred by numerous irregularities. The most
serious problems concerned the lack of a fair playing field
for opposition candidates and the harassment or detention of
opposition party supporters. President Kagame won 95 percent
of the vote and his RPF party won the majority of
Parliamentary seats. In 2006, there were elections for
district and sector councils. These were non-partisan
elections, but were open and transparent.


27. (C) Today, political power remains concentrated in the
hands of the majority RPF party. The other six parties
represented in Parliament are small and for the most part
support government policies. Existing parties are free to
organize at the national and provincial levels, recruit
members, and publicize their views. There are transparent
procedures for the establishment of new parties. However,
all parties are prohibited from crossing the boundary of
promoting ethnic politics, which could lead to charges of
divisionism. In principle and in practice, determination of
what constitutes divisionism is in the hands of the
judiciary. The courts have made such determinations and
there have been several high profile cases, such as that of
prominent journalist, who were acquitted of this charge.


28. (C) Rwanda lacks a vibrant opposition that is able to
set out alternative policies and offer its own vision of
Rwanda's future. While the RPF is not going to take the
initiative to create a new opposition, this will develop over
time. The institutional checks and balances that are being
created in Rwanda should enable parties offering alternative
policies to develop. For example, Parliament is already
taking a more activist approach to investigating government
policies. Government Ministers are routinely summoned before
Parliamentary committees to account for their performances
and to respond to criticisms of government policies and
practices. Opening up the political process will take place,
but, like everything else in Rwanda, it will be affected by
the legacy of the genocide.

ARIETTI