Pascal Nyilibakwe
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2011-057-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2011
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: -1.940278
Longitude: 29.873888
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Rwanda
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 18 March 2011
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Executive Secretary of the Rwandan section of the Human Rights League of the Great Lakes, an independent, regional umbrella organization that works on human rights issues in Rwanda.
- Type of rights defended
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
Pressure on civil society organisations to retract their support in supporting a civil society report for the Universal Periodic Review of Rwanda.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UPR
- Dates of engagement
- 5 July 2010
- Type of attempted engagement
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- September 2010
- Reprisal information
It is alleged that, in September 2010, the Rwandan section of the Human Rights League of the Great Lakes was targeted by a smear campaign led by some of the civil society organizations that had participated in the training sessions relating to the preparation of a civil society report as part of the universal periodic review process. These organizations reportedly disassociated themselves from the training and the report produced, stating that they had been falsely included in the report with the summary of the stakeholder’s information to be submitted for the review. It is reported that these organizations did so as a result of the pressure on them to retract their support from the above-mentioned initiative. Following the smear campaign, Mr. Nyilibakwe and the chairperson of the steering committee fled the country after receiving threats against themselves and their families.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Family/friends/acquaintances targeted
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- Both state and non-state actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
At the time of completion of the present report, the Government of Rwanda had not replied to this communication.
- 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
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2012
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
- Regarding the case of Pascal Nyilibakwe, Executive Secretary of the Rwandan section of the Human Rights League of the Great Lakes, referred to in my 2011 report(A/HRC/18/19, paras. 57-60), information has been received indicating that he remains outside Rwanda.
- The Human Rights League of the Great Lakes reportedly continues to face administrative difficulties in Rwanda which stem from harassment in 2010 and 2011, including delayed renewal of the organization‟s NGO registration, which expired in April 2011. The process remains ongoing. As part of the registration process, the Human Rights League of the Great Lakes requested a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Justice in August 2011 on the expiration of its previous memorandum of understanding. At the time of completion of the present report, the memorandum had not been signed. The delay has reportedly hindered the organization‟s ability to carry out activities as planned and limited its access to funds; because the organization operates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Rwanda, it is categorized as an international NGO and, as such, it is not allowed to conduct activities in Rwanda without registration.
- The registration process for the period 2012-2013 started in July 2012 as stipulated by the regulations for international NGOs operating in Rwanda. The Human Rights League of the Great Lakes started its registration renewal process, despite the unresolved current registration situation for 2011-2012. However, the mandate of its executive committee expired in December 2011. Without valid registration it is difficult for the Human Rights League of the Great Lakes to organize its General Assembly to elect a new executive committee. At the same time, the fact that the committee is not in place is reportedly being used as a reason for delaying the renewal of the organization‟s registration
- Followup Trends 0
- Stayed same
- Did the government respond? 0
- No