RWANDA COMMITS TO FURTHER JUSTICE SECTOR REFORMS

UNCLAS KIGALI 000563

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA COMMITS TO FURTHER JUSTICE SECTOR REFORMS



1. (U) Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama chaired a June
8 presentation of results from a two day Justice Sector
retreat that included 12 justice sector institutions, among
them the Ministry of Justice, the Prison Service, the
Prosecution Service, the National Gacaca Service, the
Military Courts and Prosecution Service, The National
Reconciliation Commission, and the National Human Rights
Commission. He was joined at the podium by the Prosecutor
General Martin Ngoga, the National Police Commissioner Andrew
Rwigamba, and the Vice President of the Supreme Court Sam
Rugege. Attemdees included diplomatic missions, members of
the press, and interested citizen groups.


2. (U) The Minister offered a three-tiered analysis of the
deliberations, starting with the overarching policy goals of
the justice sector, including: enhanced respect for the rule
of law; the proper exercise of institutional independence;
and continued capacity building. Next he reviewed several
key priorities for the sector, including: construction of
military courts; rehabilitation of police detention
facilities; rehabilitation of prisons; focused training for
all institutions; strengthened mediation committees (the
"abunzi," who handle village-level disputes),and
implementation of a justice sector IT strategy.


3. (U) Next, the Minister presented forty-four
"institutional challenges" discussed at the retreat,
including: case backlogs in the courts and prosecution
service; non-execution of judgments; poorly written
judgments; poor investigation of human rights violations;
absence of legal aid for vulnerable groups, including
indigents and children; disappearance of judicial dossiers;
influence peddling; lack of respect for detainees' rights by
institutions charged with their arrest and/or incarceration;
and poor popularization of laws, including limited awareness
of the scope and definition of the crimes of sectarianism and
genocide ideology.


4. (U) The Minister in his remarks emphasized the
free-flowing nature of the discussions at the retreat, noting
dryly that heated debate "was not in short supply" when it
came to apportioning responsibility for inter-institutional
failings, such as poor communication between the prosecution
service and the gacaca service. He said that each
institution was expected to frame its own implementation
strategy, and that the justice sector secretariat (itself in
need of support, he said) would monitor plans and activities.
He then opened the floor for questions, which covered a
broad range of topics.


5. (U) Comment. As regards the judicial sector, airing
one's institutional limitations in public strikes us as a
laudable exercise in transparency and accountability. This
needs to be accompanied by solid strategies for improvements
and be monitored by donor governments. Minister Karugarama
is an activist reformer who will follow through on these
challenges. We anticipate linkages between the announced
reform program and anticipated MCC Threshold governance
projects.
ARIETTI