Rwanda OPCAT project
Funded until February 2016
Aims and objectives
The HRIC, on behalf of the Article 5 Initiative partnership, has managed several grants from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to support national efforts to designate a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) in Rwanda.
Rwanda ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) in June 2015 and in accordance with the terms of the OPCAT Rwanda had one year within which to designate an NPM. National discussions on the designation of an NPM had begun and the aim of this project was to support these deliberations and ensure that a workable framework for an NPM operating in Rwanda was designated in conformity with the OPCAT.
In order to meet this aim the HRIC, together with the Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit (GHJRU) of the University of Cape Town (a partner under the Article 5 Initiative), and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), worked with the Rwandan National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Ministry of Justice. Under the project a number of stakeholder consultations were held between 2015 and 2016 to identify and develop the framework for an NPM in Rwanda. These consultations included a broad range of stakeholders such as representatives from Government, law enforcement and correctional services, the national human rights institutions, and civil society organisations, as well as the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), and the Association for the Prevention of Torture.
The overall aim of the consultations was to identify a viable NPM structure for the Rwanda context and to assist in the drafting of the legal framework setting out its mandate in accordance with the OPCAT.
These consultations were followed-up by further activities between 2016 and 2018 that focused on building capacity. A series of trainings and consultations were organised jointly with the NHRC, APT and the GHJRU; an awareness raising brochure was developed; preparations for a study visit; and elaborating provisions for a draft law on the NPM.
Outputs
Under the project the team provided legal and policy advice to national stakeholders and assisted in the development of a number of publications including:
- Report on a ‘Stakeholder Consultation on the Designation of a National Preventive Mechanism in Rwanda’ 30 November to 1 December 2015
- Report of a roundtable discussion with NGOs on the designation of a National Preventive Mechanism, 15 March 2016
- ’Implementing the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) in Rwanda: 10 Frequently Asked Questions’ on the OPCAT
- Summary report of NGO training on the OPCAT May 2017
Further Developments
To build on these initiative efforts in January 2018 a workshop for Rwandan NGOs was organised on using evidence-based research to support efforts to prevent torture and other ill-treatment in Rwanda. The training brought together over 30 NGO representatives with aim of building capacity to enable them to develop and use research to provide evidence of torture and other ill-treatment and develop strategies to advocate for gaps in practice and law to be addressed.
In June 2018 Rwanda’s Parliament passed law N° 61/2018 empowering the NCHR to undertake the National Preventive Mechanism mandate in accordance with the OPCAT. The HRIC continues to offer support for the implementation of OPCAT in Rwanda.