- The parliament of Rwanda has requested the government to dissolve several organisations, including human rights groups, following a three-day debate on the survival of "genocidal ideas" in the country. Parliament also lashes out against international aid organisations and the Dutch government.
A parliamentary commission, established following the late 2003 killing of several survivors of the 1994 genocide, this year has gathered information from local officials and others in about three-quarters of the country. It concluded that a "genocide ideology" was widespread, found in six of Rwanda's 12 provinces, at the national university, in a number of secondary schools and in many churches.
The commission presented its findings during a three-day debate in the Kigali parliament this week, and the conclusions were far reaching. One parliamentarian even alleged during debate that genocidal ideas had been found among survivors of the genocide, a statement that drew derision from other parliamentarians.
After the debate, the Rwandan parliamentary majority on Wednesday asked the government to dissolve the League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (Ligue Rwandaise pour la promotion et la défense des droits de l'homme, or Liprodhor) and four other civil society organisations because they allegedly supported genocidal ideas.
The action had also been recommended by the parliamentary commission, which further called for the arrest of leaders of the organisations.
Other groups that according to the Kigali parliament should be dissolved included a rural association for improving agricultural output and an association of widows whose husbands were killed during a 1997-99 uprising in northern Rwanda.
The commission also called for action against several international non-governmental organisations active in Rwanda, including Care International, Trocaire, 11.11.11 and Norwegian People's Aid. It alleged that these humanitarian organisations were supporting local groups labelled by the commission as having a "genocide ideology".
The commission and parliamentarians also castigated the Dutch government for aiding organisations said to have a "genocide ideology". The Dutch government, a major donor to both the Rwandan government and to a number of civil society organisations, was scheduled today to discuss further assistance to Rwanda.
The commission finally criticised a number of churches and religious leaders for harbouring genocidal ideas and recommended the establishment of a "forum" to govern religious activities. A similar forum, dominated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, already supervises the conduct of political parties, which are higher restricted in terms of their opportunities for action.
The dramatic conclusions of the parliament's majority have caused international concern. Information presented during the parliamentary debate was said to have "included a number of inaccuracies," and the accused groups had had "no opportunity to correct errors or to respond to allegations, neither during the time the commission gathered information nor during the debate itself."
The US-based groups Human Rights Watch - which traditionally is very critical towards Rwandan authorities - today issued a statement in defence of the Rwandan human rights group Liprodhor. The US activists are concerned that the Kigali parliament may be exploiting the ample definition of illegal "genocidal ideas".
The Rwandan government should reject the parliamentary request to dissolve Liprodhor, the US group said in its statement today. "Dissolving Liprodhor would call into question the Rwandan government's commitment to such basic human rights as freedom of expression and association," said Alison Des Forges of Human Rights Watch.
The human rights group hold that the commission had made "sweeping and unproven accusations against Liprodhor and the other organisations" during the parliamentary debate. The commission had interpreted "genocidal ideas", prohibited by law in Rwanda, "so broadly as to include even dissent from government plans for consolidating land holdings," the group added.
- Under such a broad interpretation, any opposition to the government can be labelled 'a genocide ideology' and its proponents can be severely punished, Mr Des Forges warned.
This is the second time that a parliamentary commission has proposed eliminating organisations. Last year a commission recommended ending the Democratic Republican Movement (MDR), the one party then capable of seriously contesting the Rwanda Patriotic Front in the upcoming national elections.
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