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Justice Compromised: The Legacy of Rwanda�s Community-Based Gacaca Courts

by Human Rights Watch.

Justice Compromised: The Legacy of Rwanda�s Community-Based Gacaca Courts

This report assesses the courts� achievements and outlines a number of serious shortcomings in their work, including corruption and procedural irregularities.
The report also examines the government�s decision to transfer genocide-related rape cases to the gacaca courts and to exclude from their jurisdiction crimes committed by soldiers of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the country�s ruling party since the genocide ended in July 1994.

Read the Report here

June 1, 2011   2 Comments

Amnesty International’s Campaign for Freedom of Expression in Rwanda

Amnesty International is calling on President Kagame to allow opposition politicians, journalists and human rights defenders to express their views without fear for their safety.

On 3 June 2011 Amnesty International will launch a short campaign document calling on the Rwandan authorities to review �genocide ideology� and �sectarianism� laws that are being used to suppress political dissent and stifle freedom of speech in the country.

The months leading up to the August 2010 presidential elections, which President Kagame won with 93 per cent of the vote, were marked by a clampdown on freedom of expression through regulatory sanctions, restrictive laws and criminal defamation cases.

The Rwandan government has expressed a commitment to review laws which are used to criminalize criticism, but recent trials of journalists and opposition politicians suggest that Rwanda�s critics still face prosecution and imprisonment.

Amnesty International is calling on President Kagame to allow opposition politicians, journalists and human rights defenders to express their views without fear for their safety.

[Amnesty International]

June 1, 2011   1 Comment