Rwanda on track to achieve UN rights recommendations

Rwanda has made significant strides in implementing the 2011 Universal Reriodic Review (UPR) recommendations of UN Human Rights Council, officials from the Ministry of Justice (Minijust) have said. Minijust officials revealed this last week in a two-day workshop that brought together government officials, the United Nations, civil society organisations and the National Human Right Commission in Musanze District. The workshop which ended on Friday aimed at evaluating the implementation of the UPR recommendations and how all concerned institutions can work together to implement the remaining recommendations in time for the next report. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Isabelle Kalihangabo, cited the closing of Gacaca courts in 2012, the revision of the law on genocide ideology to remove any ambiguity and prevent unfair prosecutions as had been recommended in the UPR as some of the success stories. “Legal aid policy has also been developed. This will help us streamline the provision of legal aid services to those seen to be indigent,” she said, adding that the policy will be adopted and will be in force by next month. Concerning legal assistance to juveniles and other vulnerable citizens, she said this has been provided for by the establishment of Access to Justice Bureaus (MAJ) across the country. She also revealed that the ministry is spearheading the drafting of the first national human rights action plan and ratifiying the convention against torture as well as the convention on economic social and cultural rights. Over 70 per cent of 67 recommendations in the UPR have been implemented and there is hope that 100 per cent will be achieved before the report is submitted next year, a stand on which both government and UN officials concur. The UN Resident Coordinator, Auke Lootsma, hailed Rwanda for her efforts towards implementing the recommendations, adding that the UPR has been the powerful instrument to improve human rights among UN member states.