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Rwanda hints at talks with Human Rights Watch

Saturday October 21 2017
By IVAN R. MUGISHA

Rwanda has not yet ruled out dialogue with Human Rights Watch over what it calls the group’s “biased stance.”

HRW had requested a dialogue with Kigali over a controversial report it produced with detailed findings of alleged extrajudicial executions in western Rwanda.

The report, titled “All thieves must be killed,” included testimonies and investigations accusing Rwandan security forces of summarily executing at least 37 suspected petty offenders in the Western Province between July 2016 and March 2017.

The HRW said it stood by its report, even after a rebuttal by Rwanda.

“We stand by our 40-page report, based on interviews with 119 people showing how Rwandan security forces summarily executed 37 petty offenders. We would welcome a meeting with the National Human Rights Commission to discuss our extensive research and their response,” Ida Sawyer, Central Africa director for HRW said in a statement.

READ: Rights group accuse Rwanda army of torturing detainees

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But a report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) concluded that the findings were fabrications and that seven of those reportedly executed were alive.

NHRC chairperson Madeleine Nirere told The EastAfrican that the commission’s research found that the HRW report was based on falsehoods, and that a meeting with the watchdog had not yet been decided upon.

“We are waiting... we will see if we can allow them time, but to date, the commission has not yet made a decision to discuss,” Ms Nirere said.

Four people allegedly killed by Rwandan security in the report died of natural causes, says the NHRC, while six others died in various accidents and not executions.

Rwanda’s Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye also called out HRW’s senior researcher on Central Africa, Lewis Mudge, for being sympathetic to the FDLR rebels, a group accused of harbouring the genocide ideologies whose ranks include individuals wanted for crimes committed during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.

READ: Rwanda rubbishes report on military torture claims

The watchdog has been a thorn in government’s side, and just a fortnight ago produced another report accusing the military of routinely and unlawfully torturing detainees with beatings, asphyxiations and mock executions.

UN torture prevention panel

Meanwhile, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture that was investigating alleged torture and rights abuses in Rwanda has suspended its probe, citing obstruction by the authorities and fears that interviewees would suffer "reprisals".

The UN organ had been in Rwanda for five days before deciding it could no longer continue its mission "due to a series of obstructions imposed by authorities", it said in a statement.

"We have been barred from completing our work in some places, and grave limitations have been imposed on granting access to certain places of detention," said Arman Danielyan, the head of the committee's delegation to Rwanda.

"We have also been unable to carry out private and confidential interviews with some persons deprived of their liberty.

"Moreover, many of those we have managed to interview have expressed fears of reprisals. We must not place the persons that have cooperated with us in danger," he added.

It was only the third time a trip has been suspended in the 10-year history of the anti-torture committee, the statement said.

"The delegation concluded that the visit as a whole had been compromised to such an extent that it had to be suspended", it added.

The UN organ has urged Rwanda to establish a national detention monitoring body officially known as the National Prevention Mechanism.

“Rwanda ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in June 2015 so it is required to set up an independent and sufficiently resourced monitoring body that has unrestricted access to all places of detention,” said Mr Danielyan.

-Additional reporting by AFP

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