RWANDA SNAPSHOT - CIVIL SOCIETY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KIGALI 000758 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/22/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM RW SUBJECT: RWANDA SNAPSHOT - CIVIL SOCIETY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE JUSTICE SECTOR REF: A. KIGALI 746 ¶B. KIGALI 645 ¶C. KIGALI 142 Classified By: Ambassador Michael R. Arietti, reason 1.4 (B/D) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Members of political parties, NGOs, and religious organizations in Rwanda described a challenging environment in a series of recent meetings in which resources are scarce and political will to reform on the part of the government of Rwanda (GOR) is insufficient to overcome continuing difficulties - poor local understanding and implementation of laws, ignorance of democratic principles and processes among the population, and poverty. Septel covers discussions on justice sector reform. The major opposition political parties cited the population's ignorance of the democratic process and subtle differences between policies as major challenges to their efforts to extend their influence beyond the provincial and district level. The National Election Commission (NEC) has hired consultants to advise the Government on the computerization of the electoral process. NEC Executive Secretary Habumuremyi stated local and international groups are welcome to observe elections after being accredited. With regard to the media, the GOR had taken some of the USG's input on its draft media laws. Ambassador Sezibera, responding to concerns expressed over registration requirements for journalists, argued that the international community must acknowledge local historical realities. Jehovah's Witnesses characterized conditions in Rwanda as "much better" than in 2004; however, they noted tensions between them and the GOR seem lately to be on the rise. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs),while praising the GOR's willingness to work with civil society and their inclusion in the development of draft laws, also stated they felt brought in at the later stages of policy reviews. They also expressed concerns about registration requirements and onerous reporting requirements. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Between July 7 and July 14, Embassy Kigali hosted two representatives from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. In conjunction with this visit, Post organized a series of meetings with government of Rwanda (GOR) officials, political party members, members of NGOs, and religious leaders to assess the health of civil society and the state of human rights in Rwanda. Septel covers discussions on judicial reform. -------------- -------------- Opposition party challenges - poverty, lack of education -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Embassy and DRL officers met separately with leaders of the Parti Liberal (PL) and the Parti Social-Dmocrate (PSD),the two largest political parties outside of the ruling Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF),to gauge their impressions of working in the opposition and of recent changes to the law governing political parties (ref A). ¶4. (SBU) Since the June 2007 passage of the political party law, parties can organize at all administrative levels. (Note: Rwanda's five provinces are sub-divided into districts, sectors, cells, and villages. End note.) While PL and PSD members plan to conduct more party activities at the local level ahead of the 2008 legislative elections, including opening offices and holding internal elections, they are constrained by a lack of financial means. Both parties cited the Rwandan population's ignorance of the democratic process and the sometimes subtle differences between particular party policies as major challenges to their efforts to extend their influence beyond the provincial and district level. ¶5. (C) The PL leaders were more outspoken than the PSD in their assessment of the political climate in Rwanda. Members of both parties generally described laws on political parties as excellent, but were critical of their inconsistent application. While PSD members disagreed with the appellation "opposition party" for their organization and said the GOR's consensus-based system resulted in policy agreement "90 percent of the time," PL members expressed desire for real power sharing, and observed that some of President Paul Kagame's supporters in the RPF instead "want to have it all." PL members, in contrast to the PSD, perceive themselves as an alternative, not just as supporters of the RPF-led consensus. This outspokenness is not without KIGALI 00000758 002 OF 004 risk - in a recent conversation, one PL leader said that after suggesting some members of the RPF were using their influence to secure public financing of their businesses, his credibility was attacked by GOR officials who was accused him of "being like Rusesabagina." (FYI: Paul Rusesabagina, the hero of "Hotel Rwanda," has leveled extreme and often factually-incorrect accusations against the GOR, to the point where the ICTR recently publicly indicated that information offered by him was "of no value in our work" (ref B). End FYI.) -------------- Elections and Freedom of the Press -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador hosted a discussion on elections and press freedom with GOR officials including Ambassador Richard Sezibera, Patrice Mulama (High Council of the Press), Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga, Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission Pierre Damien Habumuremyi, and Director of Electoral Operations Charles Munyaneza. Habumuremyi presented information on the structure and operation of the Rwandan National Electoral Commission (NEC) and laid out the electoral timeline for the next several years. The majority of NEC members are drawn from political parties, but lawyers, businessmen, and members of civil society are also included, and 20 percent of members must be women. Laws governing the electoral process provide avenues for complaints, including against the NEC itself. NEC has hired consultants to advise the GOR on the computerization of the electoral process, and they are seeking input from electoral commissions in other African countries. Habumuremyi said that the "door is wide open" for local and international groups to observe elections, and that they are actively invited to do so by the NEC after receiving accreditation. He said that he knew of no cases in which electoral observers had been denied. ¶7. (SBU) Sezibera and Mulama stated that the recent closure of the Weekly Post newspaper was based on a "technical issue" raised by the Minister of Information Laurent Nkusi and not due to the paper's content. Sezibera offered that there was "most likely good reason" for the Post's acknowledgment of receipt to be revoked and that Nkusi would explain the closure when he is ready. He said that the decision is under debate and that the Post can appeal it. Mulama added that the HCP had written to Nkusi asking for clarification in the matter, but also stated that it was an "administrative act" and that Nkusi was within his authority to revoke authorization. FYI: An August 21 item published by the Rwanda News Agency quoted a letter from Nkusi to the owners of the Weekly Post that read "The decision of MININFOR (the Information Ministry) to withdraw the acknowledgment receipt of the Weekly Post was an administrative one and based on facts arising from the authenticity of the documents your organization furnished us in relation to article 16 of media law number 18/2002 of 11/05/2002." Rumors suggesting other reasons for the closure, including fear of competition for the pro-GOR paper, The New Times, and possible links of the Weekly Post to the government of Uganda are circulating. End FYI. ¶8. (SBU) Mulama noted that the GOR had taken some, but not all, of the USG's input on its draft media laws. When the Ambassador pointed out requiring journalists to register could leave the GOR open for criticism and accusations of withholding authorization for political reasons, Sezibera said the Rwandan context is "different than that in the U.S." and international perceptions must acknowledge local historical realities. When the Ambassador expressed U.S. desire for the GOR to be as tolerant as possible of discussions on potentially sensitive subjects such as Rwanda's history or origins of ethnic groups, Sezibera replied, "We have our own redline," in particular any clear violation of restrictions on ethnic attacks or genocide denial. He said the GOR does not prohibit placement of government advertisements in particular publications, nor does it attempt to influence private entities not to advertise; it only considers frequency of publication and circulation of a paper. The GOR, he said, will not limit publications' access to a new GOR-run printing press being established. ¶9. (SBU) Sezibera reported that a judgment of life in prison had been handed down to the man accused of attacking KIGALI 00000758 003 OF 004 journalist Jean Bosco Gasasira (ref C),though the decision can still be appealed in the Supreme Court. (FYI: According to Embassy sources, the sentence has not been publicly pronounced; no copy of the judgment is yet available. End FYI.) -------------- Freedom of Religion - the Jehovah's Witnesses -------------- ¶10. (SBU) In their July 13 meeting, Jehovah's Witnesses characterized conditions in Rwanda as "very much better" for them compared with 2004. They also said that tensions between them and the GOR seem lately to be on the rise given the Jehovah's Witnesses' inability - due to their practice of neutrality - to participate in armed night patrols mandated by local authorities. As a result, several were arrested for not taking part (22 between January and May 2007). They noted that while the GOR has allowed Seventh Day Adventists to perform "umuganda" (required community service in Rwanda the last Saturday of every month) on other days, it has made no similar arrangement to accommodate them. Participants said that while GOR authorities, especially on the highest levels, respect their neutrality, there has been no systematic effort to change negative perceptions of Jehovah's Witness on the local level, and treatment there can be "quite rough." They experienced particularly difficult relations with the former mayor of Gitarama. ¶11. (U) Previously, Jehovah's Witnesses had had difficulty securing permission to construct Kingdom Halls in Kigali, and members were left with inadequate space for worship activities. Now, however, they report that their applications for construction in the city seem to be moving forward and "there is hope" for their building projects. -------------- Civil Society - NGO views on Rwanda -------------- ¶12. (SBU) In two separate meetings, NGO and INGO representatives discussed the state of civil society in Rwanda. In both meetings, participants praised the GOR's inclusion of NGOs and INGOs in the development of its draft laws, and the political will of its leaders to work with civil society to solve problems, albeit quietly in order to "save face" in the international community. That said, they also report often feeling "rushed" to comment on new laws or revised policies, having often been brought in at later stages of policy reviews by the GOR, with short turn-around times. ¶13. (SBU) While they felt free to operate under Rwandan laws, both groups raised concerns over registration requirements and participation in the "almost compulsory" Joint Action Fund (JAF),a district-level coordination body between the GOR and civil society. While acknowledging its utility in organizing efforts, members said contributions to the JAF and attendance at its regular meetings throughout the countryside put a strain on their financial and human resources. They described the GOR's many reporting requirements for civil society groups, including submission of quarterly financial statements and lists of staff and assets in each of the districts where projects occur as onerous and that they are not given any feedback on them by officials. One INGO representative described this system as one of "deconcentration, not decentralization" of power - power remained in the hands of national authorities, but with fewer ministries involved. ¶14. (C) In a later conversation, Minister of Local Government told the Ambassador that NGO financial contribution to the JAF is not/not compulsory, although some local level officials have incorrectly indicated that it is. The revised NGO law is unclear on what reports NGOs are required to produce and for whom, so while the general reporting burden has been lessened, it is not certain that the issue will be fully resolved by the new legislation. This issue has been flagged by USAID in its ongoing discussion with the GOR on revisions to the NGO law. ¶15. (C) In a separate meeting on July 13, LIPRODOHR (a local human rights NGO) Executive Secretary Jean Baptiste Ntibagororwa elaborated some of the challenges faced by local NGOs. He reiterated the problem of locating sufficient funds for contributions to the JAF, and expressed concern that the KIGALI 00000758 004 OF 004 GOR uses the JAF and other umbrella organizations to monitor local NGOs. He opined that other NGOs are reluctant to publish negative reports about the GOR's human rights record as LIPRODOHR does. He said that genocide survivors have also been critical of LIPRODOHR's efforts on the behalf of those imprisoned on charges of genocide, and that the population is ignorant of the universality of human rights. Finally Ntibagororwa asserted that some volunteers working for his NGO have experienced informal, indirect intimidation in the form of police questioning. ARIETTI