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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KIGALI 000496 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/FO, AF/C, AND DRL 
MCC FOR SHERRI KRAHAM AND MATT MCLEAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL PHUM KMCA RW CG
SUBJECT: ASSISTANT SECRETARY FRAZER'S ROUNDTABLE WITH 
RWANDAN PARLIAMENTARIANS 
 
 
Classified By: Amb. Arietti for reasons 1.4(b),(d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  During a roundtable discussion April 5 
with Rwandan parliamentarians and a separate call on the 
president of the Rwandan Senate, Assistant Secretary Frazer 
addressed recent developments in the Great Lakes region, 
human rights issues, the role of parliament in Rwandan 
society, and the pace of reconciliation in the country. 
The parliamentarians expressed gratitude for Dr. Frazer,s 
interest in the FDLR issue, which they suggested has been 
overlooked by the international community.  The A/S noted 
the importance not only of the international community and 
Congolese government putting pressure on the FDLR to leave 
the Congo, but also of the GOR creating positive conditions 
in country that would serve as a pull factor in bringing 
the fighters home.  The parliamentarians strongly defended 
Rwanda,s human rights record, arguing that complaints by 
former government officials overseas are intended to ensure 
themselves a comfortable life of exile rather than the 
result of a genuine fear of persecution in Rwanda. 
End summary. 
 
------------------ 
Regional Stability 
------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) A/S Frazer opened her call on Senate President 
Dr. Vincent Biruta with a discussion of lingering regional 
instability, notably the continued presence of the FDLR in 
the DRC.  The A/S noted the importance of putting into 
place both push and pull factors to encourage FDLR fighters 
to leave the Congo and return to Rwanda: they should feel 
that they can return to a better life in Rwanda and be 
confident that they will have the space necessary to 
exercise their political rights.  Biruta welcomed A/S 
Frazer,s interest in the FDLR, noting that Rwandans have 
the impression that the FDLR issue is being forgotten by 
the international community.  With reference to political 
space, Biruta commented that as long as Rwanda,s laws are 
followed, FDLR members are free to establish a political 
party or join an existing one after they return to the 
country: they could not, however, be allowed to form a 
political party outside the country.  A/S Frazer noted that 
while parties can be formed anywhere, they need to be 
registered in their home country. 
 
¶3. (SBU) During the roundtable discussion with 
parliamentarians representing a cross-section of political 
parties, MP Gideon Kayinamura (RPF), who hails from 
northwest Rwanda, along the Congolese border, noted that 
there is more trade between western Rwanda and the Congo 
than there is between western Rwanda and Kigali.  Relations 
between the two countries have improved tremendously, he 
said, adding that non-state actors can be dealt with 
effectively within the framework of the joint verification 
mechanism in place.  Noting historic, economic, and ethnic 
ties among Rwanda, Burundi, and the DRC, Kayinamura called 
for revival of the Economic Community of Great Lakes States 
(CEPGL) so that economic development can contribute to 
regional stability.  Noting that he himself is an 
agro-businessman, Kayinamura claimed that the ex-FDLR 
combatants who returned to his region of Rwanda are the 
happiest workers because life in Rwanda is so much better 
than the life they experienced in Congo. 
 
¶4. (C) Senator Joseph Karemera (RPF) expressed concern 
that the international community is not doing enough to 
encourage the FDLR to return to Rwanda.  Noting that no 
ex-combatant has ever returned to the Congo, Karemera 
wondered why this fact is not publicized more widely.  A/S 
Frazer noted that she frequently heard during her 
conversations in the DRC that the FDLR had two concerns 
about their return to Rwanda.  First, senior FDLR members 
may be seeking amnesty in Rwanda (the USG, she noted, does 
not have a position on the issue).  Second, the FDLR might 
be concerned about being able to operate as a political 
entity in Rwanda.  This concern, the A/S noted, was raised 
especially in conversations with MONUC officials. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Karemera suggested that conditions in Rwanda must 
be measured against the progress of reconciliation.  For 
example, the recent release of 40,000 prisoners (charged 
with lesser crimes committed during the genocide) is a huge 
incentive for FDLR fighters to return to Rwanda but it was 
a tense issue domestically that had to be dealt with 
carefully.  Genocide survivors, he said, are now accusing 
the GOR of granting amnesty to genocidaires. 
 
KIGALI 00000496  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Defending Rwanda,s Human Rights Record 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) A query by A/S Frazer about the state of human 
rights in Rwanda sparked an animated defense of the 
political climate in Rwanda.  Senator Joseph Karemera 
argued that the political environment in Rwanda is quite 
open: there are 11 political parties operating in the 
country, seven of which are represented in parliament; 
there have never been fewer Rwandan refugees in the 
country,s history; none of Rwanda,s 13 newspapers face 
harassment from the government; and the human rights 
abuses that do occur cannot be said to be institu- 
tionalized.  Additionally, he noted, ex-combatants 
comprise 60 percent of the RDF.  Karemera argued that 
Rwanda,s genocide resulted from the denial of rights to 
a certain segment of society; the 2003 constitution seeks 
to avoid a repeat of that situation by preventing a 
winner-take-all system.  Hence the Forum of Political 
Parties, which was created to avoid friction, to permit 
decision by consensus, and to provide assistance to 
parties bedeviled by internal strife.  Senator Odette 
Nyiramilimo (PL) added that the Rwandan culture of ceding 
the floor to one,s elder, sometimes taken as a lack of 
freedom, already is changing with the advent of new 
newspapers and radio stations.  It is the first time, she 
said, that Rwandans of her generation (born in the 1950s 
under a monarchy) have lived with such freedoms. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Returning to the issue of human rights, the A/S 
noted that many in the international community have the 
perception that Rwanda is not as free as it could be and 
that two factors contributing to that perception are the 
criminal charges against former President Bizimungu and 
irregularities observed during the 2003 elections. 
Concerning Bizimungu,s case, the parliamentarians noted: 
1) that he was charged with violating a law he himself 
created, and 2) that he was brought to trial faster than 
the cases being heard (by the ICTR) in Arusha.  Karemera 
stressed that Bizimungu had been trying to mobilize people 
along ethnic lines by stating that genocide would happen in 
Rwanda again.  Ambassador Arietti noted that other than 
embezzlement, all of the charges against Bizimungu stem 
from criminal association laws; the division between 
criminal and political association is difficult to 
identify.  Assistant Secretary Frazer added that as Rwanda,s 
institutions mature and as society is better able to cope 
with internal divisions, it will be important that they be 
given more leeway and greater opportunity for freedom of 
expression. 
 
¶8. (SBU) With respect to the former MDR party, which was 
criticized in a 2002 parliamentary report which called for 
it to be banned, Karemera recalled that since 1994 the MDR 
had always been a part of the government coalition, not in 
opposition.  It had been beset by serious internal 
divisions, which led to its breakup.  Many MDR members 
then joined other parties and remain active in political 
life.  The current Prime Minister, for example, is a former 
MDR member.  The MDR was never banned.  The parliamentarians 
adamantly argued that those political figures who have 
sought asylum/refugee status outside Rwanda have done so for 
personal gain rather than out of a genuine fear of 
persecution.  Rwanda, they said, has a strong tradition of 
former government officials hopping on a plane to Europe or 
North America as soon as they are dismissed from office. 
This culture persists, they suggested, because the state 
still offers the best economic opportunities in Rwanda: 
removed from office, the officials are not likely to find 
comparable opportunities in the local private sector and 
thus look to go abroad to seek their fortunes.  In order to 
be permitted to remain in a country, they seek asylum 
status.  Citing a couple of recent examples, the parlia- 
mentarians argued that former Speaker of the Assembly Joseph 
Seberenzi--despite enjoying asylum outside Rwanda--regularly 
returns to the country to visit his family but comes via 
overland routes to avoid receiving Rwandan entry/exit 
stamps.  Valens Kajeguhakwa, a former RPF deputy whom the 
group noted is a Tutsi himself, fled Rwanda to avoid charges 
of embezzling public funds. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Commenting on allegations of irregularities during 
the 2003 elections, Senator Nyiramilimo acknowledged that 
the Liberal Party (of which she is a member) did have party 
workers who were detained by members of the Local Defense 
 
KIGALI 00000496  003 OF 003 
 
 
Force.  But, she said, those workers were quickly released 
once party leaders learned of their detentions.  In her 
opinion the 2003 elections were the first free elections in 
the country,s history. 
 
------------------------------ 
Parliament Finding its Footing 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) While acknowledging that a lack of funding and 
sufficient professional staff limit parliament,s ability to 
initiate legislation, the group stated that Rwanda,s 
legislature is not merely a rubber stamp for the executive 
branch.  Senator Biruta assured the A/S that parliament is 
free and that parliamentarians vote as individuals, not as 
members of a group.  All legislation introduced by the 
executive branch is scrutinized and, at times, rejected. 
Biruta identified increasing parliament,s research and 
analysis capabilities as a top priority.  The 
parliamentarians said that President Kagame recently 
defended parliament to ministers who complained of being 
treated too harshly by its oversight committees.  Biruta 
noted, for example, that the senate,s human rights 
committee not only questioned relevant GOR officials about 
a reported secret detention center but also sent a Senator 
along with representatives from human rights organizations 
to verify the officials, testimony.  The A/S commented that 
the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) could be used to 
help strengthen the legislature,s capabilities since 
accounts are tailored to each country,s specific needs. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Reconciliation: A Long Road Ahead? 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) With respect to the progress of reconciliation 
efforts in Rwanda, Karemera said that much progress had 
been made with Rwandan youth but that there is "a long road 
to travel for those who imbibed" the genocide ideology: 
many of these people have not yet changed.  Nyiramilimo 
noted that the senate recently completed a one-year study 
to determine whether genocide ideology persists in Rwanda. 
The work--carried out by 22 academics--has not yet been 
released but suggests that genocide ideology is very much 
alive in Rwanda.  The report currently is being translated 
into English and should be made public in the near future. 
 
¶12.  (U) Karemera closed the meeting by thanking the USG 
for its continued support of Rwanda,s reconstruction 
--singling out the US for its assistance to the gacaca 
process when its development had stalled--and expressed 
a desire for the Rwandan legislature to continue to 
cooperate with and learn from other democratic nations. 
ARIETTI