VZCZCXYZ0021
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0540/01 1570922
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060922Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2868

UNCLAS KIGALI 000540 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM RW
SUBJECT:  RWANDAN CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS MEET WITH AMBASSADOR 
 
REF:  A. KIGALI 183 
 
      ¶B. KIGALI 219 
 
This is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  During a May 24 meeting with prominent 
local civil society leaders, Ambassador expressed U.S. 
support of the role of civil society in Rwanda, stressing 
the critical balance it brings to government decision- 
making.  Civil society leaders discussed their goals, 
successes, and interactions among themselves and with 
government.  They indicated that relations with the 
government have generally improved and they have been 
consulted on new draft legislation concerning NGOs, although 
their views are not always taken into account.  They are 
seeking to coordinate their activities to strengthen their 
collective efforts.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On May 24, Ambassador, accompanied by members of a 
U.S. delegation visiting Rwanda for a Tripartite Plus 
meeting, met with four prominent civil society leaders to 
discuss the work of their organizations and the state of 
civil and human rights in Rwanda.  Ambassador expressed the 
Embassy's support for the role of civil society in Rwanda, 
which brings critical balance to government decision-making. 
The U.S. recognizes the important role of civil society, he 
said, and encourages the GOR to recognize this legitimate 
role.  He noted that while the U.S. can provide some 
financial assistance, the critical work must be undertaken 
by Rwandans.  Following are brief descriptions of the four 
civil society organizations. 
 
Background 
---------- 
¶3. (U) Haguruka ("stand up" in the Kinyarwanda language) was 
established in 1991 to promote and defend women's and 
children's rights.  It provides community-based training on 
human rights, with special focus on women's and children's 
rights.  It also provides simplified explanations of 
legislation, such as the laws on succession and protection 
of children against violence, through mass media, and legal 
advice and advocacy assistance.  During the past five years, 
Haguruka has succeeded in restoring the rights, including 
compensation in some cases, of more than 10,000 women and 
children.  Haguruka has also been involved in the promotion 
of land rights and adoption of laws on domestic violence and 
protection of children against violence. 
 
¶4. (U) LIPRODHOR (Rwandan League for the Promotion and 
Defense of Human Rights) was established in 1991 to focus on 
human rights protection and awareness.  The nationwide 
organization currently has an estimated 600 members.  It 
conducts field investigations of suspected human rights 
abuses, publishes reports, and discusses its findings with 
the GOR and the National Human Rights Commission.  In 
politically sensitive cases, LIPRODHOR collaborates with 
other organizations to put more pressure on the government. 
It is conducting follow-up of gacaca proceedings to address 
concerns that have been raised, and has been successful in 
obtaining dismissal of some cases of false accusations.  It 
publishes a newsletter that explains new legislation, 
produces a weekly radio program, and maintains a website. 
 
¶5. (U) AJPRODHO (Youth Organization for the Promotion of 
Human Rights and Development) was founded in 1997 by 
students at the National University of Rwanda in Butare to 
"enlighten youth about their responsibility to protect human 
rights."  It has established human rights clubs in primary 
and secondary schools to instill core human rights values, 
and provides legal advice and advocacy.  AJPRODHO and 
Haguruka jointly lobbied parliament to enact legislation to 
provide legal representation to vulnerable groups in Rwandan 
society.  AJPRODHO is working to mobilize civil society 
groups to "speak with one voice" to maximize their 
influence, and is urging policymakers to incorporate human 
rights and justice issues in the national growth and poverty 
reduction strategy paper. 
 
¶6. (U) LDGL (Human Rights League in the Great Lakes Region) 
is a regional human rights organization based in Kigali with 
chapters in neighboring Burundi and DRC.  Its activities 
include observing local elections and monitoring human 
rights violations in collaboration with local organizations 
and other partners.  LDGL advocacy initiatives are aimed at 
promoting good governance and freedom of expression and 
press in collaboration with the media, diplomatic community, 
and international organizations. 
 
GOR Interaction with Civil Society 
---------------------------------- 
¶7. (U) When asked about the interaction between the GOR and 
civil society, LDGL Executive Secretary Francine Rutazana 
characterized the government's attitude toward civil society 
as gradually improved as far as "the government has become 
aware of the presence of an increasingly important civil 
society."  During the February local elections (ref A), LDGL 
deployed 30 observers who reported some irregularities. 
According to Rutazana, the presence of observers during the 
elections was a signal to the GOR that there were people 
watching government actions. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Rutazana pointed out that the major problem in the 
relationship between the GOR and civil society on 
politically motivated decisions, such as the recent 
decentralization and the 2003 provisional release of 
genocidaires, is that the GOR is reluctant to consult civil 
society.  She noted that this problem exists at the national 
as well as local government levels, from top to bottom.  She 
was hopeful, however, that increasingly professional and 
experienced civil society groups would have a positive 
impact on government decision-making. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Haguruka Executive Secretary Christine Tuyisenge 
commented that the issue of whether the GOR is attempting to 
control civil society has been a subject of debate since 
2002 when the GOR first recognized civil society as a 
crucial partner.  She pointed out that civil society groups 
are required by law to register each year and to provide 
reports on their activities to the Ministry of Local 
Government.  She observed, however, increasing collaboration 
between civil society and the GOR, particularly on poverty 
reduction and proposed legislation.  She noted that a 
women's umbrella organization (Profemmes Twese Hamwe) is 
playing a lead role in the reformulation of the law on non- 
profit organizations. 
 
¶10. (SBU) AJPRODHO President Ronald Nkusi acknowledged that 
Rwandan civil society groups have not been very assertive in 
engaging the GOR.  He pointed out that the GOR is using 
"trickier" strategies than before in dealing with civil 
society.  The GOR requires NGOs to obtain authorization from 
the GOR for some projects, depending on the nature of the 
project, before they can access funds provided by their 
international partners.  (Note:  LIPRODHOR, for example, was 
required to obtain authorization from the Ministry of 
Finance to access funds for an EU-funded project.  End 
note).  According to Nkusi, this may generate further 
government restrictions on local organizations' access to 
international donor funds. 
 
Proposed NGO Bill 
----------------- 
¶11. (U) Haguruka's Tuyisenge indicated that consultations 
between the GOR and civil society on a proposed NGO bill 
were positive but that civil society's recommendations have 
not been incorporated into the draft legislation.  (Note: 
Most recently, the Ministry of Local Government accepted 
most of the recommendations proposed by NGOs on the latest 
draft, which will soon go to the cabinet for a vote.  End 
note.) 
 
¶12. (U) LDGL's Rutazana explained that the NGO "Profemmes," 
rather than the civil society platform, is taking the lead 
role on the pending NGO legislation because civil society 
groups prefer to use informal consultation mechanisms for 
specific issues and to resort to the civil society platform 
as part of formal consultations with the government on broad 
issues. 
 
Gacaca 
------ 
¶13. (SBU) LIPRODHOR Executive Secretary Jean Paul 
Turinzwenamungu observed that a major problem with gacaca is 
interference by government officials at all levels of the 
process, which has a negative impact on the independence of 
gacaca judges.  He also noted lack of sufficient security 
for witnesses and gaps in the legislation, such as ill- 
defined provisions concerning contempt of court, which lead 
to abuses in interpretation.  He pointed out that there are 
unresolved cases of accusations based on personal agendas 
and judges' biases and that the gacaca law, which provides 
for only one level of appeal, does not provide sufficient 
guarantee of fair and impartial justice. 
 
¶14. (U) LDGL's Rutazana pointed out that the National 
Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions does not have legal 
authority to change the venue of gacaca proceedings, but 
that its role is nevertheless important in resolving cases 
of arbitrary arrest and detention. 
 
Parliamentary Report on Genocide Ideology 
----------------------------------------- 
¶15. (SBU) According to LIPRODHOR's Turinzwenamungu, the 2004 
parliamentary report on genocide ideology recommended the 
dissolution of several organizations.  The GOR, however, did 
not take action on the recommendations.  Following 
publication of the report, many civil society leaders 
criticized the methodology used by the parliament in 
producing its report because it did not interview or consult 
with those named.  He also commented that the report did not 
provide a clear definition of "genocide ideology," a term 
subsequently liberally applied to civil society members 
viewed by the regime as political opponents. 
 
¶16. (SBU) LDGL's Rutazana added that the parliamentary 
report was published shortly after the 2003 presidential and 
parliamentary elections, during which the term "genocide 
ideology" had been used to undermine certain candidates for 
political purposes.  Rutazana believed that the intent of 
the report was to discredit and neutralize political 
opposition. 
 
¶17. (SBU) AJPRODHO's Nkusi pointed out that while the GOR 
has not acted on the report, some organizations are "still 
shaken" and the report has had a lingering impact in 
undermining the credibility of civil society.  He noted that 
under the pretext of enforcing the prohibition against 
"genocide ideology," the government suppressed organizations 
that were critical of the government.  He asserted that 
while some individual members of LIPRODHOR may have been 
involved in genocide ideology, it was unfair of parliament 
to label the group as a whole as a genocide ideologist.  He 
suggested that one way to avoid the abuse of accusations of 
genocide ideology in domestic politics would be to clarify 
the law. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Nkusi noted that while relations between the GOR 
and civil society remain difficult on politically sensitive 
issues, he was optimistic that the situation is improving, 
particularly on less sensitive issues, such as economic 
development and judicial reform. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶19. (SBU) Despite charges of GOR intolerance of criticism 
and the lingering effect of the 2004 parliamentary report on 
civil society groups, ongoing activism of these groups 
suggests that the government not only tolerates, but in some 
cases is even receptive to, criticism of its policies. 
President Kagame has challenged government officials to 
closely monitor government operations and to be self- 
critical (ref B); civil society groups provide the critical 
additional balance to government actions.  Although 
seemingly cautious of pressing the government too hard and 
somewhat tentative in engaging the GOR, they have achieved 
successes that provide grounds for optimism that they will 
continue to develop into effective public policy advocates 
through their collective efforts, as evidenced most recently 
by their successful participation in consultations with the 
government on the draft law on international NGOs. 
THURSTON