Rwanda's Application for Membership in the Commonwealth
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CHRI 2009 Rwanda’s Application for Membership of the Commonwealth: Report and Recommendations of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative CHRI Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative working for the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an independent, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation, mandated to ensure the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth. In 1987, several Commonwealth professional associations founded CHRI. They believed that while the Commonwealth provided member countries a shared set of values and legal principles from which to work and provided a forum within which to promote human rights, there was little focus on the issues of human rights within the Commonwealth. The objectives of CHRI are to promote awareness of and adherence to the Commonwealth Harare Principles, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally recognised human rights instruments, as well as domestic instruments supporting human rights in Commonwealth member states. Through its reports and periodic investigations, CHRI continually draws attention to progress and setbacks to human rights in Commonwealth countries. In advocating for approaches and measures to prevent human rights abuses, CHRI addresses the Commonwealth Secretariat, member governments and civil society associations. Through its public education programmes, policy dialogues, comparative research, advocacy and networking, CHRI’s approach throughout is to act as a catalyst around its priority issues. The nature of CHRI’s sponsoring organisations allows for a national presence and an international network.* These professionals can also steer public policy by incorporating human rights norms into their own work and act as a conduit to disseminate human rights information, standards and practices. These groups also bring local knowledge, can access policy makers, highlight issues, and act in concert to promote human rights. CHRI is based in New Delhi, India, and has offices in London, UK, and Accra, Ghana. International Advisory Commission: Sam Okudzeto - Chairperson. Members: Eunice Brookman-Amissah, Murray Burt, Yash Ghai, Alison Duxbury, Neville Linton, B.G. Verghese, Zohra Yusuf and Maja Daruwala. Executive Committee (India): B.G. Verghese – Chairperson. Members: Anu Aga, B.K.Chandrashekar, Bhagwan Das, Nitin Desai, K.S. Dhillon, Harivansh, Sanjoy Hazarika, Poonam Muttreja, Ruma Pal, R.V. Pillai, Kamal Kumar and Maja Daruwala – Director. Executive Committee (Ghana): Sam Okudzeto – Chairperson. Members: Anna Bossman, Neville Linton, Emile Short, B.G. Verghese, and Maja Daruwala - Director. Executive Committee (UK): Neville Linton – Chairperson; Lindsay Ross – Deputy Chairperson. Members: Austin Davis, Meenakshi Dhar, Derek Ingram, Claire Martin, Syed Sharfuddin and Elizabeth Smith. * Commonwealth Journalists Association, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, Commonwealth Legal Education Association, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Commonwealth Press Union and Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. ISBN: 81-88205-68-0 © Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2009. Image: ©iStockphoto.com/Duncan Walker. Concept, Design & Layout: Chenthilkumar Paramasivam Material from this report may be used, duly acknowledging the source. CHRI Headquarters, New Delhi CHRI United Kingdom, London CHRI Africa, Accra B-117, Second Floor Institute of Commonwealth Studies House No.9, Samora Machel Sarvodaya Enclave 28, Russell Square Street Asylum Down New Delhi - 110 017 London WC1B 5DS opposite Beverly Hills Hotel INDIA UK Near Trust Towers,Accra, Ghana Tel: +91-11-2685-0523, 2686-4678 Tel: +44-020-7-862-8857 Tel: +00233-21-971170 Fax: +91-11-2686-4688 Fax: +44-020-7-862-8820 Tel/Fax: +00233-21-971170 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] www.humanrightsinitiative.org 2 CHRI REPORT ON RWANDA Prepared by: Professor Yash Ghai With assistance from Lucy Mathieson, CHRI Supported [in part] by a grant from Foundation Open Society Institute (Zug). CHRI REPORT ON RWANDA 3 BIOGRAPHICAL DATA Yashpal Ghai Professor Yashpal Ghai, a Kenyan educated at Oxford and Harvard, was awarded Doctorate of Civil Law by Oxford in 1990, and elected Fellow of the British Academy in 2000. He was called to the English Bar and admitted to practice law in Tanzania. A law teacher for most of his professional life, he taught at the University College, Dar es Salaam from 1963-72, and was the first East African dean of the Law Faculty. Until 2006 he was first Sir Y K Pao Professor of Public Law at the University of Hong Kong. In between he was a Research Fellow at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, for five years, and taught at the University of Warwick, UK, for over a decade. He has been a visiting professor at the Yale Law School, the Harvard Law School, University of Wisconsin, University of Toronto, Melbourne University, and the National University of Singapore. Professor Ghai publishes extensively on public law, including human rights. His first publication was Public Law and Political Change in Kenya (1971, with Patrick McAuslan), and his most recent book looks at implementing the Millennium Development Goals through constitutional protection of economic, social and cultural rights (a project for the UNDP regional office, Bangkok). Professor Ghai frequently advises governments and political parties on constitutional matters, and was a consultant on the independence constitutions of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and worked on constitution making or reform in Fiji, Cook Islands, Iraq, Afghanistan and, recently, in Nepal, where he headed the UNDP’s Constitution Support Unit from 2006 -2008. Professor Ghai chaired the Kenya Constitution Review Commission (2000 to 2004) and the Kenya National Constitutional Conference (2002 to 2004). He was Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia from 2005-8. He has served on the boards of Interights, Minority Rights Group, International Council on Human Rights Policy, the Asian Commission of Human Rights, and the International Centre for Transitional Justice. He was a member of the first Advisory Commission of CHRI, and edited their first report, Put our World to Rights, and rejoined its Advisory Commission last year. Lucy Mathieson Ms Lucy Mathieson, Coordinator of CHRI’s Human Rights Advocacy Programme, has a Masters in International Law from the Victoria University in New Zealand. She has rich experience having associated with the National Consultative Committee on Disarmament, Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution, UK, Charities Advisory Trust. She has worked with Peace Brigades International, Nepal, South Asian Forum for Human Rights, India, Ministry of Immigration in New Zealand and UNHCR. 4 CHRI REPORT ON RWANDA PREFACE The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative’s (CHRI) report on Rwanda is published in order to assist the Commonwealth Heads of Governments in arriving at a decision as to whether Rwanda should be admitted to Commonwealth membership. The decision would be momentous, as until recently the rules for admission to the Commonwealth restricted membership to those states that have had a close constitutional relationship with a Commonwealth state. Mozambique was the exception, when it was formally admitted in 1995, because of its intimate links with Southern African Commonwealth states and its role in ending the apartheid era within South Africa. Since then the Heads of Governments have adopted rules for the admission of new members. These rules open up the possibility of membership to states like Rwanda, which have had no previous constitutional link with a Commonwealth state. The most important criterion is that the applicant state should demonstrate that it respects and follows Commonwealth values, particularly of human rights and democracy, as set out in the Harare Declaration of 1991. The decision the Commonwealth Heads of Governments make will be a precedent for the consideration of future applications. It is therefore critical that the decision is not rushed, but is made with great care, with a full consideration of the applicant’s record on human rights and democracy. The Commonwealth Secretariat has prepared a report on Rwanda’s application, which presumably includes an assessment of Rwanda’s compliance with Commonwealth standards of human rights and democracy. Unfortunately the report has not been made public. The Commonwealth is primarily an association of the peoples of its member states, who may thus be unable to assess Rwanda’s eligibility for membership, or the impact it will have on the values and working of the Commonwealth. Some Commonwealth governments have already expressed strong support for its admission. CHRI is concerned to ensure that the issues of human rights and democracy are given due consideration in the decision on Rwanda’s application. It is for this purpose that the CHRI is publishing this report. It was prepared at the request of the Advisory Board of the CHRI by Professor Yash Ghai with the assistance of Lucy Mathieson, the Programme Coordinator of CHRI’s Human Rights Advocacy Programme. Professor Ghai, a member of the Advisory Commission, is a distinguished scholar of constitutional law, human rights and democracy, and has considerable experience of making and evaluating constitutional and political systems.