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Violations of International and Rwandan Law

The use of lethal force against detainees is highly restricted by commonly accepted international standards put into effect by most states. The 1990 United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms emphasizes that intentional lethal use of firearms only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.73 In the context of a detainee in police custody, such circumstances would include “self-defence or the defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury” or preventing the detainee’s escape when such action would “prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life.”74 

The evidence we have collected, including the official explanations presented by senior police officers, suggests that not all—indeed perhaps none—of the killings discussed in this report meet those criteria. Only thorough and impartial investigations, drawing on as wide a range as possible of forensic evidence and witness testimony, can determine if any or all of these killings constitute cases of extrajudicial execution. Such cases would violate the right to life guaranteed by the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), of which Rwanda is a state party, as well as the Rwandan constitution.75

Statements by senior police officers about these shootings violated the presumption of innocence guaranteed by the ICCPR and by the Rwandan constitution. To the extent that attitudes expressed in these statements are held generally by police officers, the shooting of detainees is unsurprising and seems likely to continue unless specific action is taken to change the attitudes and halt the killings.

The practice of collective punishment is illegal in times of peace and war alike. It is not only a serious violation of international humanitarian law,76 but also violates human rights law by subjecting individuals to arbitrary arrest, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, by contravening the right to recognition as a person by the law, as well as by violating the presumption of innocence and the right of all persons to be tried in lawful and impartial tribunals for any crimes of which they are accused. These rights are guaranteed to the citizens of Rwanda by the ICCPR and by the Rwandan constitution.77




73 Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, 1990, principle 9.

74 Ibid and principle 16.

75 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force March 23, 1976, art. 6; Constitution of Rwanda (2003), art. 12.

76 Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV), 1907, art. 50 and Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 1949, Part III, section I, common provisions, art. 33. The imposition of collective punishments happens most frequently in times of war and is rare in times of peace.

77 ICCPR, art. 7, 9, 14 (1 and 2) and 16; Constitution of Rwanda (2003), art. 19.