MASS FIRING OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TEACHERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIGALI 000330

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/08/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF RW
SUBJECT: MASS FIRING OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TEACHERS

REF: A. KIGALI 325


B. KIGALI 323

C. KIGALI 259

Classified By: Amb. Arietti for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Jehovah's Witnesses officials reported 142
of their members had been fired from their jobs as teachers
after refusing to participate in nation-wide goverment
solidarity camps. They reported increased difficulties with
the government since public criticism by the new Minister of
State for Education and feared future firings and reversals
of previous positive gains in their relations with local
government officials. The Ministers of Local Government and
Finance acknowledged to the Ambassador that the Government of
Rwanda (GOR) needs to "review the situation." End summary.


2. (C) Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) officials told emboffs May 8
that 142 of their members had been fired from their jobs as
teachers after refusing to participate on religious grounds
in "Intorero," a series of nation-wide teacher solidarity
camps intended to combat "genocide ideology." (Note:
Jehovah's Witnesses take a "neutrality stance" toward
affirmations of allegiance to governments). Church officials
stated 316 Jehovah's Witness teachers had refused to
participate in the camps outright, and another 94 took part
for only a certain portion, although a few others may have
stayed for the entire camp program. The JWs found
quasi-military marches, the singing of the national anthem,
loyalty pledges to the government, and other "political"
requirements to be inconsistent with their religious beliefs.
In several locales camp participants were asked to state
their political affiliations, and those not already members
of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) were strongly
encouraged to join.


3. (C) Two female JW teachers, who had been arrested and
held in prison for their refusal to go to the camp, have
since been released (ref A). Many of the fired teachers,
church officials reported, received letters from their school
directors dismissing them on orders from the Minister of
State for Education, while others were simply let go (emboffs
were shown several such letters to that effect). In ten
cases school directors conducted what were described as
humiliating public dismissals of teachers in front of
assembled students and then locked them out of their
classrooms.


4. (C) JW officials feared the mass firing would have a
spill-over effect if local officials viewed this development
as "permission" to take further action against Jehovah's
Witnesses. As examples of what might be seen as increasing
hostility to their members, they cited a May 7 arrest of 13
JWs by local defense forces, supposedly for non-participation
in armed night patrols, and the late April expulsion from
school of 20 Jehovah's Witness youth for not singing the
national anthem (night patrols and anthem-singing being two
issues on which the JWs had generally won the indulgence of
local authorities).


5. (C) JW officials met with Minister of Local Government
Protais Musoni April 28 to discuss the firings and to attempt
to reach a compromise on Intorero participation. They
proposed that JW members attend camps, but be exempt from
some portions of their programs (anthem singing,
military-style drills, or anything they considered
"political"). JW officials said Musoni described Intorero as
Q"political"). JW officials said Musoni described Intorero as
a "state-sponsored instrument to help Rwandan society," and
replied that Jehovah's Witnesses would not be exempt from
taking part in any portion of the programs.


6. (C) Ambassador spoke with Protais Musoni May 8 to discuss
the teacher firings. Musoni agreed the GOR should not
"single out" the JWs, and acknowledged that, having reached
accomodations with the JWs on other issues, the GOR should
strive to do so again regarding the teacher solidarity camps.
In an earlier conversation with Finance Minister James
Musoni, the Finance Minister said that "if we have mishandled
the Jehovah Witnesses, we need to look into it."


7. (C) Comment. Jehovah's Witnesses experienced concrete
improvements in their relationship with the government in
2007, with steadily decreasing incidents of arrest or
harassment, and a reversal of previous bans on building
permits for their Kingdom Halls. The newly-appointed
Minister of State for Education, however, has a reputation
for being unfriendly to the JWs, and more firings of teachers
may follow. The Ambassador has engaged senior government
officials and will follow up with the Minister of State for
Education on the firings. End comment.























ARIETTI