A/HRC/17/2
(b)
The compilation prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (b)
(A/HRC/WG.6/10/RWA/2);
(c)
The summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c)
(A/HRC/WG.6/10/RWA/3 and Corr.1).
267. At its 15th meeting, on 7 June 2011, the Human Rights Council considered and
adopted the outcome of the review of Rwanda (see section C below).
268. The outcome of the review of Rwanda comprised the report of the Working Group
on the Universal Periodic Review (A/HRC/17/4), the views of Rwanda concerning the
recommendations and/or conclusions, and its voluntary commitments and replies presented
before the adoption of the outcome by the plenary to questions or issues that were not
sufficiently addressed during the interactive dialogue in the Working Group (see also
A/HRC/17/4/Add.1).
1.
Views expressed by the State under review on the recommendations and/or
conclusions, its voluntary commitments and the outcome
269. The delegation recalled that, during the review held in January 2011, Rwanda had
accepted most of the recommendations and rejected three, stating that they were based on
incorrect or false premises. Recommendation 81.1 had been rejected because there were no
armed groups on Rwandan territory. Rwanda had a professional army, a professional police
force and a professional correctional services force, all made up of adult men and women
over the age of 18. This fact had been attested to by national, regional and international
observers, who had participated in the selection of Rwandan forces for the international
peacekeeping missions. The delegation stated that there was also a local defence force that
provided security services to decentralized local administration units. The force had
undergone deep reforms and was now a well-disciplined and respected force that
contributed greatly to community development.
270. Recommendation 81.2 had been rejected because Rwanda was not a country where
human trafficking took place. Preventive and precautionary measures had however been
taken, including the signing of all international conventions against human trafficking and
the criminalization of human trafficking in the Penal Code. Also, Rwanda had put in place a
programme of community policing, which made human trafficking almost impossible in the
country or transit through it.
271. Recommendation 81.3 had been rejected as the question of minority groups and
indigenous people in Rwanda had often been misunderstood, confused or distorted by nonRwandans. All Rwandans were indigenous to Rwanda and no one had the right to
arbitrarily state that Rwanda had indigenous and non-indigenous populations. Furthermore,
there were marginalized and vulnerable groups, but these groups could not be called
indigenous because they cut across and represented a broad spectrum of the Rwandan
community. Also, social services policies and programmes on health, education, housing,
employment and empowerment had been adopted to take care of these disadvantaged
groups without any form of discrimination.
272. The delegation recalled that, during the review held in January 2011, responses to
some recommendations had been deferred pending further consultations with other
stakeholders. In this regard, the delegation indicated that recommendations in paragraphs
80.1 to 80.3 and 80.5 to 80.14 of the report were now accepted and were being
implemented with the other recommendations initially accepted in January 2011.
Recommendations 80.4, 80.15 and 80.16 were rejected.
273. With regard to recommendation 80.4, arbitrary arrests and detentions were
prohibited in Rwanda and where such arrests and detentions did take place, corrective
124
GE.12-13630
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents