Covering events from January - December 2004
Trials of people suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide continued, both within Rwanda and at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. Rwandese courts concluded fewer than 200 trials of genocide suspects in 2004. No executions were carried out. Approximately 80,000 people remained in detention, most suspected of participation in the genocide. Members of the political opposition, the independent news media and civil society were harassed, arrested and unlawfully detained.
Background
Rwanda's relations with neighbouring Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) failed to improve as Rwanda continued to insist that it had the right to pursue members of Rwandese armed groups based in the DRC. The Rwandese Defence Forces (RDF) entered Burundi on 22 April, allegedly in search of members of these groups. There were also reports of Burundians being trained in Rwanda to destabilize Burundi (see Burundi entry). The Ugandan and Rwandese governments expelled two diplomats from each other's embassies in late November. Officials in the Ugandan government alleged that a member of an armed group operating in northern Uganda, the People's Redemption Army (PRA), had been trained in Rwanda (see Uganda entry). On 2 December, Ugandan troops clashed with soldiers suspected to be members of the RDF in transit to the eastern DRC. Rwanda continued to support armed groups opposed to the DRC government in eastern DRC (see DRC entry). Relations between Rwanda and the DRC worsened in June, November and December when Rwanda threatened to re-enter the DRC to defeat Rwandese armed groups operating there. There were numerous reports that the RDF was engaged in military operations within the DRC.
Suppression of political opposition
The government continued to suppress the political opposition and those critical of government policies or government officials. Members of the banned Democratic Republican Movement (Mouvement démocratique républicain, MDR) continued to be arrested and detained. At least one MDR member was extrajudicially executed. Family members of some alleged MDR members or supporters had their land confiscated or were denied social services by local authorities. Some top officials who worked for Faustin Twagiramungu during his 2003 presidential campaign were arrested and unlawfully detained.
- David Habimana and his brother were detained on 6 October. They were held in a number of police stations before being taken to Department of Military Intelligence (DMI) facilities on 21 October. They did not appear before a judge within the time required by law and were detained clandestinely by the DMI. David Habimana was a top official in Faustin Twagiramungu's presidential campaign.
Suppression of civil society
On 30 June 2004, the Rwandese parliament accepted the recommendations of a parliamentary commission created to investigate the existence and spread of a "genocide ideology" in Rwanda following the assassination of at least four genocide survivors between April and November 2003. Several institutions, including religious institutions, schools and national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), were accused in the report of either supporting genocide or disseminating its principal tenets. The NGOs named included rural development organizations, a group for survivors of the conflict in the north-west in 1997 and 1998, and one of the few remaining credible human rights organizations operating within Rwanda. The allegations against these organizations and some of their staff, which were unsubstantiated, appeared to be politically motivated. They were working with populations perceived to be hostile to the government or, in the case of the human rights organization, held the government to account for human rights violations. In September, the government officially recognized the report and urged the judicial authorities to initiate legal proceedings.
None of the named organizations was dissolved as recommended by the National Assembly, but their ability to raise funds, employ qualified staff and carry out their work was seriously damaged. Some individuals named in the Commission's report were detained and many lost their jobs. Several sought asylum abroad.
In October, between 14 and 17 people were detained after the Ministry of Education dismissed 37 school officials and teachers and provisionally suspended 27 students. The government reportedly fabricated evidence against some of them and the alleged victims made false allegations against others.
Freedom of the press
Journalists continued to face intimidation and harassment for articles criticizing government policy or documenting the misdeeds of government officials. Several journalists were repeatedly detained and interrogated in early 2004. Three fled Rwanda in March after receiving death threats and one in September after being subjected to intimidation.
- Charles Kabonero, editor of the independent newspaper, Umuseso, was tried in November for "divisionism" and attacking the dignity of a high political authority. The district court acquitted him of the "divisionist" charge and sentenced him to a symbolic fine of one Rwandese franc.
Abuses in the criminal justice system
Most of the proposed legislation to address abuses in the criminal justice system became law in the first half of 2004. The results of this judicial reform remained unclear. Trials in the first half of 2004 did not meet international standards of fairness. There was a presumption of guilt, and standards of evidence for conviction were lowered. Government interference in judicial decisions was a constant threat.
- Pasteur Bizimungu was sentenced in June to 15 years' imprisonment for inciting civil disobedience, associating with criminal elements and embezzling state funds. During the 12-day trial, prosecution witnesses contradicted themselves and admitted giving false statements under considerable duress. The underlying motive for the trial was Pasteur Bizimungu's launch of a political opposition party in May 2001.
Genocide trials
On 7 April 2004, Rwanda commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the 1994 genocide. Within Rwanda, 80,000 detainees awaited trial for their alleged participation in the genocide. They were held in harsh conditions. Another 500,000 to 600,000 Rwandese were implicated in the genocide, largely through the pre-trial confessions of detainees. A reformed judiciary was established in mid-2004.
The nationwide establishment of the 8,140 gacaca jurisdictions – a community-based system of justice intended to try most genocide suspects – was delayed until 2005. The trial phase of the 746 gacaca jurisdictions in a pilot project which began in 2002 was similarly delayed. Not all of them had completed the pre-trial phase by the end of 2004.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Trials of leading genocide suspects continued at the ICTR, which held 63 detainees at the end of 2004. Up to 14 high-level indictees remained at large.
Four trials involving 18 defendants continued from preceding years. Four new trials involving seven defendants began in 2004. Six judgments were given: two defendants were conditionally released; two received substantial prison sentences and two received life imprisonment.
Three new suspects were arrested in the Netherlands, the DRC and South Africa. Another 40 suspects were identified for investigation.
The ICTR was working under a UN Security Council deadline to finish trials by the end of 2008 and appeals by 2010. The tribunal's chief prosecutor indicated that the 40 cases yet to be investigated would be transferred to other jurisdictions.
Defence lawyers went on strike for two days in January in protest at cost-cutting measures that they said harmed their ability to defend their clients. The ICTR argued that it was reacting to UN General Assembly demands to control expenses.
Sexual violence
Ten years after the 1994 genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rwandese women who were victims of sexual violence were still awaiting legal redress. Nearly 70 per cent of them contracted HIV as a result of rape and had not received medical care or other forms of assistance. Sexual violence against women and girls continued. According to officials, there were more than 2,000 reported cases of rape and defilement in 2004; 80 per cent of the victims were minors.
Refugees
Sixty thousand refugees remained outside Rwanda; most were unsure if they wanted to return and lived in fear of being forcibly returned.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 8,457 Rwandese refugees were repatriated in the first six months of 2004 from African countries that had signed tripartite agreements with Rwanda and UNHCR. Despite vigorous promotion of voluntary repatriation, the number of Rwandese registering for repatriation remained small. UNHCR postponed until mid-2006 a decision on the application of "cessation clauses" which would terminate international protection for Rwandese refugees.
There were reports that hundreds of repatriated Rwandese had again left the country to seek asylum. There were also reports of young repatriated men being pressured into military training and transferred to military service in eastern DRC.
Government officials, members of the security forces and leaders of the Rwandese-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, RCD-Goma) reportedly entered camps housing Congolese refugees in Rwanda in March, April and May to recruit soldiers to serve in the DRC. Rwandese officials reportedly pressurized refugees to enlist by refusing to provide them with the appropriate refugee documents and threatening them with the loss of their Congolese citizenship.
AI country visits
AI delegates visited Rwanda in January. An AI delegate attended the Great Lakes regional meeting of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights in May.
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