Kigali directs attorney general to probe "genocidal" groups

The government of Rwanda has asked its attorney general to investigate and prosecute individuals and organisations accused in a parliamentary report of encouraging ethnic divisions, according to a cabinet document made available to IRIN on Friday.

In its June findings, the report by a parliamentary commission accused several civil society organisations, schools and churches of promoting "genocide ideology and ethnic division" among Rwandans.

The report cited incidents where efforts were made to undermine the Gacaca judicial system - based on traditional methods of solving disputes - by suppressing evidence that could have led to suspects being charged. The report also noted situations where potential Gacaca witnesses were killed or harassed to discourage others from testifying.

"The report sounded the alarm to the government by revealing how serious the issue of the genocide ideology and various sectarian tendencies was," the cabinet document said. "Government strongly calls on the concerned authorities, mostly the prosecution and judiciary, to investigate individually, every person, every non-profit making organisation and civil society implicated by the findings so [that] those found guilty are punished in accordance with the law."

The parliamentary inquiry was commissioned following the killing of about half a dozen genocide survivors, especially in the southern region of the country.

Under Rwandan law, advocating ethnic differences is a crime. A sentence ranging from three to 20 years in prison can be imposed on an individual. However, critics have accused the government of hiding behind ethnicity to suppress freedom of expression and political opposition.

The parliamentary report recommended a ban for the main independent human rights body, the League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LIPRODHOR), which has been critical of the
government’s human rights record. But international human rights bodies objected to this recommendation and called upon the government to reject it.

"Dissolving LIPRODOR would call into question the Rwandan government’s commitment to such basic human rights as freedom of expression and association," Alison Des Forges, the senior adviser for the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, said.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch said the parliamentary commission interpreted "genocidal ideas", prohibited by law in Rwanda, so broadly as to include even dissent from government plans for consolidating land holdings.

"Under such a broad interpretation, any opposition to the government can be labelled 'a genocide ideology' and its proponents can be severely punished," Human Rights Watch said.

In 2003, a parliamentary commission recommended the ban of the main opposition party, the Democratic Republican Movement, ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections. The party was banned, and the Rwanda Patriotic Front of President Paul Kagame won the elections.