RWANDA: OIAD contribution to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review on Rwanda
The alternative report by the International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger was recently presented at the 51st session of the 4th cycle of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review on Rwanda.
This report exposes the systematic repression carried out by Paul Kagame’s authoritarian regime in Rwanda, marked by an extreme concentration of executive power and a drastic reduction in democratic space. Lawyers committed to defending human rights are particularly targeted in a context of serious attacks on the independence of the judiciary and violations of the right to a fair trial.
The alternative report by the International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger was recently presented at the 51st session of the 4th cycle of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review on Rwanda.
This report exposes the systematic repression carried out by Paul Kagame’s authoritarian regime in Rwanda, marked by an extreme concentration of executive power and a drastic reduction in democratic space. Lawyers committed to defending human rights are particularly targeted in a context of serious attacks on the independence of the judiciary and violations of the right to a fair trial.
The report highlights the following issues :
- Direct control of the judiciary by the executive power, including the appointment of judges and the illegal use of military courts to try civilians ;
- The assimilation of lawyers with their political clients, leading to harassment, threats, suspensions and denial of access to detainees;
- Massive violations of professional secrecy and systematic surveillance of communications between lawyers and clients;
- Enforced disappearances, incommunicado detention and acts of torture against lawyers defending political opponents or sensitive cases.
This report reveals a judicial system manipulated by the Rwandan authorities, where lawyers are the primary victims of repression, compromising access to a free and independent justice system. In light of this alarming situation, the OIAD has made several key recommendations in its alternative report.
