Rwanda

Making love a crime: Criminalization of same-sex conduct in Sub-Saharan Africa

Published by on June 25, 2013

Amnesty International 25 June 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides an analysis of the legal environment and wider context of human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent years have seen increasing reports of people being harassed, marginalized, discriminated against and attacked because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. This is occurring in countries whose legal systems still condone the criminalization of consensual same-sex behaviour, and in countries where the police and justice systems are failing to prevent these crimes from happening. The continued criminalization of consensual same-sex Read the full article…

Rwanda: Amnesty International Annual Report 2013

Published by on May 23, 2013

Amnesty International 23 May 2013 The government continued to stifle legitimate freedom of expression and association. Cases of illegal detention and allegations of torture by Rwandan military intelligence were not investigated. Military support from Rwanda to the M23 armed group in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) tarnished Rwanda’s international image built on economic development and low levels of corruption. The international community’s support for Rwanda wavered. Read full report here.

Rwanda: Freedom in the World 2013

Published by on May 20, 2013

Freedom House 20 May 2013 The Rwandan Patriotic Front under President Paul Kagame continued to prosecute journalists and opposition politicians in 2012, with harsh sentences delivered in several cases. An October report by an international human rights group noted numerous instances of torture, ill-treatment, and enforced disappearances in secret detention centers at the hands of Rwanda’s military intelligence between March 2010 and June 2012. Meanwhile, the community-based gacaca genocide courts officially completed their work in June. Read full report here.

Rwanda: ICRC Annual Report 2012

Published by on May 1, 2013

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) May 2013 In the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (hereafter DRC), the armed conflict between the armed group M23 and the DRC’s armed forces led to an influx of reportedly over 20,000 refugees into Rwanda. The Rwandan government pursued efforts to develop the country’s economy and infrastructure and to advance its integration into the East African Community, including by participating in the Community’s security reform processes such as those relating to weapons control and military cooperation. In July 2012, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, tasked with carrying Read the full article…

Rwanda: 2012 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

Published by on April 19, 2013

United States Department of State 19 April 2013 Rwanda is a constitutional republic dominated by a strong presidency. The ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) leads a coalition that includes six smaller parties. In August 2010 voters elected President Paul Kagame to a second seven-year term with 93 percent of the vote. Three other registered political parties participated in elections. Senate elections took place in September 2011, with RPF candidates winning the majority of seats by wide margins. International observers reported the senate elections met generally recognized standards of free and fair elections in most respects but noted concerns regarding the Read the full article…

Human Rights and Democracy: The 2012 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report

Published by on April 1, 2013

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office April 2013 SECTION IX: Human Rights in the Countries of Concern This section contains our review of the human rights situation in 27 countries where the UK Government has wide-ranging concerns. For this year’s report, we decided to review thoroughly the criteria we use for deciding which countries are of most human rights concern to the UK. We drew on feedback from the Foreign Affairs Committee and consulted with the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Group on Human Rights in doing so. Our geographical directors, with input from our embassies and high commissions overseas, subsequently assessed all Read the full article…

Rwanda: World Report 2013

Published by on January 31, 2013

Human Rights Watch 31 January 2013 Rwanda has made important economic and development gains, but the government has continued to impose tight restrictions on freedom of expression and association. Opposition parties are unable to operate. Two opposition party leaders remain in prison and other members of their parties have been threatened. Two journalists arrested in 2010 also remain in prison, and several others have been arrested. Laws on “genocide ideology” and the media were revised, but had not been adopted at this writing. Community-based gacaca courts set up to try cases related to the 1994 genocide closed in June 2012. Read the full article…

Rwanda: new law fails to safeguard freedom of expression

Published by on January 5, 2012

Article 19 05 January 2012 A revised media law promised by the Rwandan government prior to and during its Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2011 fails to safeguard the right to freedom of expression and a free media.[1] ARTICLE 19 welcomes several improvements in the draft, but calls on the government to bring the law into full compliance with international legal standards on the right to freedom of expression. The State retains its control over the media in the draft Law by determining rules for its operation and defining journalists’ professional standards. Media freedoms and Read the full article…

Uganda/Rwanda: investigate journalist’s murder

Published by on December 6, 2011

Human Rights Watch 6 December 2011 The Ugandan authorities should open an effective and transparent investigation into the murder of a Rwandan journalist on November 30, 2011, and identify and bring those responsible to justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The Ugandan government should also provide protection for Rwandan journalists and other critics of the Rwandan government who are living in Uganda, Human Rights Watch said. Charles Ingabire, editor of the online publication Inyenyeri News and a vocal critic of the Rwandan government, was shot twice in the chest as he was leaving a bar in the Bukesa-Kikoni Makerere area Read the full article…