UPR Info

Take all appropriate measures to prevent and combat all forms of disability-based discrimination

Adopt legal provisions recognizing the full legal capacity of persons with disabilities

Take measures to prevent child marriage, including by developing a national action plan and dedicating resources for its implementation

Take further measures to prevent child marriage

Take steps with a view to prohibiting early and forced marriage

Take the necessary institutional measures to ensure that street children in transit centres are not subjected to arbitrary detention or ill- treatment

Ensure adequate resources for programmes focusing on children, especially children with disabilities

Ensure the proper application of Law No. 17/2017 establishing the National Rehabilitation Service so that no violation of the rights of the child is committed

Enact an explicit prohibition of the corporal punishment of children in all settings, including at home

Put in place appropriate mechanisms to combat gender-based violence

Strengthen efforts to improve the constitutional and policy framework with an aim to ensure women’s participation in all levels of decision-making

Take further steps to improve the enrolment of women at the tertiary education level

Consider introducing a year of mandatory and free preschool education

Continue efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates, in particular by removing obstacles to access to termination of pregnancy in its existing legal clauses and continuing the public debate geared towards the ultimate decriminalization of abortion

Amend its legislation in order to legalize the termination of pregnancies in cases of risk to the life of the pregnant woman, rape, incest and severe impairment of the fetus

Provide families living in poverty with adequate social protection and create income-generating opportunities for them

Promote the integration of women into the labour force and adopt a gender-sensitive and adequately resourced employment policy

Facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities in both the public and the private sectors and ensure their access to all public services

Adopt and implement comprehensive policies to increase employment opportunities for persons with disabilities and take more measures to promote the integration of women into the labour force

Support, through economic and social policies, the institution of the family and the preservation of family values

Ensure effective protection of the rights of the child, especially with regard to prevention, prosecution and elimination of sexual exploitation of children

Establish effective mechanisms, procedures and guidelines for the mandatory reporting of cases of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors

Reinforce measures to protect the rights of children and youth from sexual violence, abuse and trafficking

Adopt a comprehensive policy to avert sexual exploitation and abuse of children, as well as all forms of slavery and trafficking

Eradicate child sexual exploitation and abuse by strengthening relevant legislation and establishing appropriate monitoring and reporting mechanisms

Accelerate the adoption of the bill on trafficking in persons and child labour

Accelerate the process of adoption of the national action plan against human trafficking

Complete the adoption of the national action plan against human trafficking

Protect the legitimate work of human rights defenders and political opponents

Strengthen its progress on democratization, the broadening of political and civil space and the protection of human rights defenders

Ensure the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association; fully investigate threats, arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders, who are recognized as stakeholders in the national Human Rights Action Plan; and review the registration of NGOs in order to simplify the process

Guarantee the independence of civil society organizations and human rights defenders

Guarantee a vibrant civil society and the independence of NGOs by revising laws affecting their registration and operations

Take measures to foster a safe, respectful and enabling environment for civil society and human rights defenders, free from persecution, intimidation and harassment, and to relax the requirements for registering NGOs

Ensure a safe and enabling environment for civil society, including by lifting onerous registration requirements on civil society organizations

Guarantee the protection and freedom of expression of politicians, journalists and rights defenders and fight against the impunity of the perpetrators of violence against them

Take measures against the legal ambiguity regarding the competences of media regulatory bodies such as the Rwanda Media Commission in order to strengthen their independence against government interference and align them with international standards

Enhance freedom of expression by amending the 2018 Penal Code to repeal the offence of spreading false information or harmful propaganda with intent to cause hostile international opinion against the Rwandan Government and insults or defamation against the President

Amend article 2 (19) of the media law to broaden the definition of journalist in order to include citizen journalists, freelance journalists and bloggers, in accordance with international standards on freedom of expression

Remove from the legislation any provision that violates the right to freedom of expression

Take concrete steps to ensure media independence

Take measures to protect freedom of expression and protect journalists from harassment and injustices

Take further measures to protect journalists and human rights defenders

Protect and uphold the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including by respecting and supporting free and independent media, in line with international human rights standards

Strengthen freedom of expression, in line with the Constitution of Rwanda and international law, particularly through the establishment of a binding legal instrument that guarantees the independence of the Rwanda Media Commission

Promote media freedom by creating a legal framework for the self- regulatory Rwanda Media Commission

Ensure that the right to freedom of religion or belief is guaranteed and protected within Rwanda, and that religious minorities are treated equally as regards their human rights and fundamental freedoms

Investigate cases of extrajudicial arrests, unlawful detentions and arbitrary executions

Combat impunity for the crime of enforced disappearance

Increase transparency in the legal system and commission independent investigations into allegations of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, deaths in custody and unlawful detentions

Ensure that members of marginalized groups – including persons with disabilities, children living in the streets and also lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals – do not become subject to arbitrary detention or ill-treatment by the security forces

Allow independent investigations of allegations of torture and ill- treatment in detention facilities

Take all appropriate measures to ensure that all reported cases of torture, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention are investigated and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

Take all necessary measures to combat impunity for the crimes of enforced disappearance and human trafficking

Conduct independent investigations into all cases of excessive use of force by security forces, as well as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, in order to bring those responsible to justice

Consider investigating all allegations of extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions and enforced disappearances

Guarantee the protection of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people against violence, harassment and arbitrary arrests

Repeal all legal provisions that are discriminatory towards women and adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation; furthermore, strengthen efforts to raise awareness of existing legislation and to fight prejudices and stereotypical attitudes that lead to discriminatory practices against women

Enact legislation recognizing the full capacity of persons with disabilities

Adopt the implementing decree for the law determining the offences and penalties in general