Statement by the High Commissioner, Mary Robinson to the Commission on Human Rights in presenting the country report on Rwanda

Geneva, 15 April 1998

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On this day four years ago, Rwanda was in the throes of a systematically planned genocide which in a span of three months claimed the lives of at least half a million people and left a legacy of trauma from which the country is still trying to recover.

My Office?s response was the establishment of the Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda, which was designed to support the government of Rwanda?s efforts in improving the human rights situation and fostering national reconciliation. The Operation has carried out three main types of activities since its establishment in September 1994 : conducting investigations into the genocide and other serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law; monitoring and reporting on the ongoing human rights situation; and implementing a broad-based programme of technical assistance and human rights promotional activities, including projects to strengthen the capacity of the country?s judicial system and to strengthen public institutions and civil society.

The report that I present to you today, thanks to the work of my colleagues in Rwanda, provides an overview of the human rights situation in Rwanda and the role of the Human Rights Field Operation since the 53rd session of the Commission.

I would like to highlight several of the difficulties which have persisted over the past year in the re-building of Rwanda. Despite some progress the Government has made in carrying out genocide trials, an enormous number of persons are still awaiting trial. As a result of lack of judicial capacity and a security situation which does not facilitate investigations, the increase in the number of trials envisaged by the Government will be difficult to achieve. I am particularly concerned about the issue of severe prison overcrowding and poor detention conditions, particularly in the cachots. I welcome the Government?s efforts to improve the conditions in the prisons as well as its recent public statements indicating its willingness to explore alternative solutions to this problem. I would strongly recommend the voluntary use of the Confession and Guilty Plea Procedure provided for in the Genocide law in appropriate cases.

Mr. Chairman, I am also deeply concerned about the security and human rights situation in the northwest of Rwanda which has increasingly involved the loss of life of significant numbers of civilians in situations suggesting the disregard for basic standards of international human rights and humanitarian law. The on-going conflict in these areas has also greatly reduced productivity in subsistence agriculture causing food shortages and price increases of agricultural produce. UN agencies in general, and the Human Rights Field Operation in particular, are extremely limited in their onsite activities due to the continuing insecurity. I call on the international community to strengthen multilateral and bilateral efforts to assist the Government of Rwanda in protecting the civilian population of northwest Rwanda. I also encourage the Government to take steps to prevent excessive use of force while protecting its citizens and others present in its territory from attack, and to fully respect international human rights and humanitarian law standards. I also welcome the Security Council?s recent recognition of the need for a renewed investigation of the illegal flow of arms to Rwanda.

The extremely difficult socio-economic situation caused by the genocide?s after-effects continues to produce unacceptably low standards of living with scarce opportunities for improvement. To best address the challenges before it, Rwanda continues to require the full political and financial support of the international donor community. The proposal currently being considered by the Government to reform the property law to enable women to hold property is particularly welcome. The Human Rights Field Operation is focussing on projects to provide assistance to vulnerable groups, particularly genocide survivors, and is cooperating with the wider United Nations system in Rwanda to support the established priorities of the Government in the areas of poverty alleviation, capacity building and governance, human resources development and education and social and economic infrastructure.

As national reconciliation must be charted in such a way as to allow for human rights to be respected at all stages of the process, the integration of the whole spectrum of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development in all UN activities in Rwanda is a paramount priority. I would like to re-emphasise the necessity for close co-ordination between UN agencies and donor governments on development assistance programmes; and in this regard to suggest exploration of the possibility of creating an inter-governmental body to co-ordinate all activities relating to genocide survivors and to strengthen the efforts in support of this particularly vulnerable group, especially in the areas of compensation laws and their role as claimants in genocide trials.

Mr. Chairman, in February 1998, I entrusted the position of Chief of the Human Rights Field Operation to Mr. Gerard Fischer. Mr. Fischer has commenced an internal review of the Operation?s role, priorities and functions in order to more effectively assist the Government in its obligation to promote and protect the entire range of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. I count on the full participation of the Government of Rwanda in the review in order to work in partnership with the operation to refocus the mandate in light of the evolution of the situation since the mission?s inception and the need to leave behind self-sustained human rights institutions.

I am pleased to announce that Mr. Fischer has already held an initial meeting with the Government to this end. However, I am concerned to learn that the Government has submitted a written proposal suggesting the elimination of all monitoring activity. While I agree fully with the Government of Rwanda on the need to affect a shift in the Human Rights Field Operation?s priorities towards technical cooperation, monitoring activity continues to be necessary precisely in order to assist the Government in introducing corrective measures when necessary and identifying human rights capacity building initiatives for implementation by governmental and non-governmental institutions. The Human Rights Field Operation?s aim is to increasingly strengthen national capacity through technical cooperation projects focussing on the judicial system and the development of an enduring human rights culture in Rwanda. In this vein, I would like to underline the importance I attach to the Government?s initiative to establish an independent national human rights commission which has the potential to become a self-monitoring body which would enable the phasing out of the Field Operation. I appreciate the Government?s cooperation with the Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Rwanda in ensuring that the creation and identification of functions of this institution conform to the relevant international human rights standards.

The future of Rwanda lies in its internal capacity to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights; and it is the aim of my office to provide all the assistance possible to support the development of national human rights capacity.