Human Rights day is celebrated every 10th December to create awareness and mobilize political will to promote respect for the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.
The 2022 Theme of Human Rights Day was “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All”
William Ndengeyinka, Senior State Attorney in Charge of International Justice and Judicial Cooperation said that there is a good improvement in terms of laws policies and institutions. He added that government is currently doing a review of laws that have gaps, including the law on access to information and the rights of people with disabilities.
Commissioner in the National Human Rights Commission Ms Gahongayire Aurelia said that said there are still barriers to the right to health and well-being especially to ordinary citizens who use Community-Based Health Insurance ( mutuelle de sante).
“ Mutuelle insurance patients are given low-level medicines, they are only allowed to be given generics which are significantly less effective and they work when administered in large quantities.” she said
She added that people in detention are not giver their full rights. Madam Gahongayire also said that those placed in detention and transit centers sleep on the floor.She says that they should be allowed to bring mattresses and bedsheets.
The Human Rights activist Mr John Mudakikwa highlited the exisiting barriers of human rights respect.
The fact that Rwanda has not signed International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance shows that there are many gaps. He recommended that the law governing arrest and detention should be revised so that prisons overcrowd (currently 129%) may be reduced.
He also said that in Rwanda there is a problem of delays in justice where the accused spends a long time in prison without a trial. He gave the example of three journalists who have been in prison for four years without trial and then they were acquitted.
“Justice delayed,justice denied !!” He said
Responding to the question of why Rwanda has not signed the UN instrument, Mr Ndengeyinka said that Rwanda has the national policy related to disappearance.
“Rwandans should be relieved, whether Rwanda has signed that instrument or not, the most important thing is that there is a department of the Rwanda Investigation Bureau that is responsible for following up on the issues of disappeared people and it is doing it well.