Freedom in the World 2004 - Rwanda

Political Rights: 6
Civil Liberties: 5
Status: Not Free
Population: 8,300,000
GNI/Capita: $220
Life Expectancy: 40
Religious Groups: Roman Catholic (56.5 percent), Protestant (26 percent), other (17.5 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Hutu (84 percent), Tutsi (15 percent), Twa [Pygmy] (1 percent)
Capital: Kigali

Ratings Change
Rwanda's political rights rating improved from 7 to 6 due to the passage of a new constitution permitting political pluralism, and presidential and legislative elections that reflected a modest amount of political choice.

Overview

A new constitution that officially permits political parties to exist, under certain conditions, was unveiled in 2003. Presidential and legislative elections that were held in August and September, respectively, provided Rwandans with some political choice. However, the primacy of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was not challenged, and a major Hutu-supported political party was declared illegal.

Rwanda's ethnic divide is deeply rooted. National boundaries demarcated by Belgian colonists led to often violent competition for power within the fixed borders of a modern state. Traditional and Belgian-abetted Tutsi dominance ended with a Hutu rebellion in 1959 and independence in 1962. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were killed or fled the country in recurring violence during the next decades. In 1990, the Tutsi-dominated RPF launched a guerrilla war to force the Hutu regime, led by General Juvenal Habyarimana, to accept power sharing and the return of Tutsi refugees. The Hutus' chauvinist solution to claims for land and power by Rwanda's Tutsi minority, which constituted approximately 15 percent of the pre-genocide population, was to pursue the complete elimination of the Tutsi people.

The 1994 genocide was launched after the suspicious deaths of President Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira in a plane crash in Kigali in April. The ensuing massacres were well plotted, with piles of imported machetes distributed and death lists broadcast by radio. A small UN force in Rwanda fled as the killings spread and Tutsi rebels advanced. French troops intervened in late 1994, not to halt the genocide, but in a futile effort to preserve a territorial enclave for the crumbling genocidal regime that was so closely linked to the French government.

International relief efforts that eased the suffering among more than two million Hutu refugees along Rwanda's frontiers also allowed retraining and rearming of large numbers of former government troops. The United Nations, which had earlier ignored specific warnings of an impending genocide in 1994, failed to prevent such activities, and the Rwandan army took direct action, overrunning refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Nearly three million refugees subsequently returned to Rwanda between 1996 and 1998. Security has improved considerably since 1997, although isolated killings and "disappearances" continue.

The government, led by the RPF, closely directs the country's political life. In 1999, it extended the transition period leading to the holding of multiparty national elections for an additional four years, arguing that the move was necessary because of the poor security situation in the country. In 2000, President Pasteur Bizimungu resigned and was replaced by Vice President Paul Kagame, who had already been the de facto leader of the country. A new prime minister, Bernard Makuza, was appointed. The president of the National Assembly fled into exile in the United States and was replaced. The security situation remains generally peaceful, with refugee reintegration continuing to take place.

Nonpartisan municipal elections, a controversial step in the country's political transition, were held in 2001. Candidates were elected to councils, which in turn chose 106 district town mayors who previously had been appointed by the central government. Political parties were forbidden to campaign, and candidates could present themselves only as individuals.

Rwanda's extended post-genocide political transition period officially ended in 2003, but the extent to which this is a move toward institutionalizing pluralist democracy remains unclear. President Kagame overwhelmingly defeated opposition candidate Faustin Twamirungu in presidential elections in August. The RPF's preeminent position in Rwandan political life, combined with a short campaign period, the material advantages of incumbency and the continuing effects of the genocide, which inhibit free expression of political will, ensured Kagame's victory and that of the RPF and its allies in the September parliamentary polls. The largely Hutu Democratic Republican Movement (MDR) was declared illegal by the authorities for allegedly sowing "divisionism," a code word for the fanning of ethnic hatred. In a sign of the extent of the RPF's influence, even the MDR parliamentary delegation voted to ban the party.

Rwanda remained generally peaceful internally, and in November, a group of Hutu guerrillas in the Congo peacefully negotiated a return to Rwanda. Continued instability in the region, however, including tensions with neighboring Uganda, pose considerable challenges to the country's peaceful development and complicate efforts to improve the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

The 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections gave Rwandans a limited amount of political choice. A new constitution passed in a 2003 referendum includes provisions for a semi-presidential regime giving strong powers to the president, who has sole authority to appoint the prime minister. The president can dissolve parliament, but only once during a five-year term. Only two succeeding presidential terms are allowed. The constitution officially permits political parties to exist, under certain conditions. Political parties closely identified with the 1994 massacres are banned, as are parties based on ethnicity or religion. The cabinet must consist of representatives from several different parties, and the largest party is not allowed to occupy more than half of the cabinet seats. The constitution also provides that the president, prime minister, and president of the lower house cannot all belong to the same party.

The constitution restricts political campaigning at the grassroots level. It raises the possibility that parties officially distinct from, but in reality subservient to, the RPF could emerge. The constitution's emphasis on "national unity" as a priority and a provision outlawing the incitement of ethnic hatred could be interpreted to limit the legitimate exercise of political pluralism. The constitution also includes a "forum" of parties that is ostensibly designed to foster communication between parties, but could also serve to control party actions.

Hutus have some representation in the government, including Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, who was from the MDR party prior to its banning. In recent years, a number of leading government critics have fled the country. Former president Pasteur Bizimungu remains under arrest for announcing that he intended to set up an independent political party.

The media reflect the RPF's predominant role and are constrained by fear of reprisals. During the genocide, 50 journalists were murdered, while others broadcast incitements to slaughter. The 2003 Rwanda report by Reporters Sans Frontieres, a press watchdog group, concludes that press freedom is not assured. Journalists interviewed admitted that they censor their own writing and that the authorities have made it clear that certain topics cannot be discussed. As a result, newspaper coverage is heavily pro-governmental. The broadcast media are government controlled, although a media bill passed in June 2002 paved the way for the licensing of private radio and TV stations. There are a growing number of newspapers in the country.

Religious freedom is generally respected in Rwanda. Numerous clerics had been among both the victims and the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.

Local nongovernmental organizations, such as the Rwandan League for the Protection of Human Rights, operate openly, even though they are at times viewed with suspicion by the government. International human rights groups and relief organizations are also active. Constitutional provisions for labor rights include the right to form trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike. There are 27 registered unions under two umbrella groups. The larger group is the Central Union of Rwandan Workers, which was closely controlled by the previous regime, but that now has relatively greater independence.

Constitutional and legal safeguards regarding arrest procedures and detention are unevenly applied. The near destruction of the legal system and the death or exile of most of the judiciary have dramatically impeded the government's ability to administer post-genocide justice. About 120,000 suspects are incarcerated in jails built for 10,000. To help address this problem, the traditional justice system of gacaca was re-instituted in 2002. In this system, local notables preside over community trials dealing with the less serious genocide offenses. Some observers have expressed concern about the potential for partiality or for the application of uneven or arbitrary standards. Amnesty International has criticized the process, which moved ahead slowly in 2003, stating that gacaca courts "fall short of international standards of fairness, particularly in terms of competence, independence and impartiality."

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, continues its work. The tribunal, similar to that in The Hague dealing with those accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia, is composed of international jurists. Relations between Rwanda and the court in Arusha have deteriorated in recent years, with Rwanda accusing the ICTR of incompetence and the court accusing Rwanda of refusing to cooperate in war crimes investigations involving its army.

There is ongoing de facto discrimination against women in a variety of areas despite legal protection for equal rights. Economic and social dislocation have forced women to take on many new roles, especially in the countryside.