OFFICE OF HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS REGRETS LACK OF AGREEMENT ON NEW UNITED NATIONS PRESENCE IN RWANDA

HR/98/47
16 July 1998

The following statement was issued today by the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights:


“The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights regrets that
no agreement was reached during discussions on the establishment of a new United Nations human rights presence in Rwanda. Such a new operation could have built upon the work of the Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda (HRFOR) on the basis of a joint strategy with the Government of Rwanda designed to protect human rights by strengthening the rule of law.

In the field operation discussed with the Government of Rwanda, the
United Nations must retain the mandate and the means to monitor the human rights situation of the country, in addition to helping build and strengthen national institutions. Monitoring is an effective tool to identify problems, while technical cooperation for institution-building helps ensure that these concerns are addressed by the appropriate institutions. Monitoring provides feedback on the effectiveness of technical cooperation projects to improve the promotion and protection of human rights. As the parties were not able to agree to the inclusion of monitoring in the mandate, no follow-on presence to HRFOR, which concludes its work at the end of July, is envisaged at this time.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights wishes to
recall the respectful and friendly character of the discussions held in Kigali and expresses its sincere desire that a new cooperation arrangement with the Government of Rwanda will be established in the near future.”