Detainees

Cases

Relevant SG report

From Country

Country Geolocation

Latitude: -1.940278

Longitude: 29.873888

From Region

UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report

Type of rights defended

Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?: No

Engagement with UN body

Type of attempted engagement

Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials

Reprisal information: suspended its visit to Rwanda “due to a series of obstructions imposed by authorities, such as accessing some places of detention, confidentiality of certain interviews and over concerns that some interviewees could face reprisals.”20 The Subcommittee reported that during its visit the experts encountered an especially difficult environment to undertake private interviews with detainees and many detainees expressed to them a fear of reprisals for cooperating with them. In some cases, detainees refused to be interviewed at all for fear of subsequent retaliation against them.

Types of reprisals suffered

Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?: No

Further case development: At its thirty-fourth session in February 2018, the the Subcommittee announced its intention to resume the visit to Rwanda.21 However, due to the lack of cooperation of the authorities in the resumption of the visit, at its thirty-fifth session in June 2018, the Subcommittee decided to terminate the visit as there was no prospect of the visit being successfully resumed or concluded. It is the first time in 11 years and more that 60 country visits that the Subcommittee had to terminate a visit before its completion.

Government response content: On 27 June 2018 the Government responded to the Assistant Secretary-General that the SPT had “full and unimpeded access to places of detention and detainees” and has put in place “prevention and investigatory measures to respond to allegations of reprisals.” The Government noted that it had underwent its own investigation into the conditions that led to the suspension of the visit, including the allegations of reprisals, and found them without base. The Government further referred to its letter of 23 October 2017 to the SPT which noted that technical issues that arose during the five-day visit were resolved.

Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?: No

Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?: No

Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?: No