(New York) – Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that the Rwandan Ministry of Justice has grossly misrepresented the work of Human Rights Watch and disparaged its staff in comments published in the Rwandan New Times on June 2, 2014.
Human Rights Watch has worked on Rwanda for more than 20 years, since before the 1994 genocide, documenting abuses against Rwandans and defending the human rights of all, regardless of their political or other affiliation. Human Rights Watch and its staff are independent of any government or any other group. The positions Human Rights Watch takes are guided solely by our intensive on-the-ground fact-finding, legal analysis, and careful organizational review process.
“Human Rights Watch uses the same rigorous methodology and objectivity in all the countries where we work, and Rwanda is no exception,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “We strongly reject accusations of political bias and stand by our reporting on Rwanda.”
Human Rights Watch regularly shares information and discusses human rights concerns with the minister of justice and other government officials in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch will be writing to the minister to respond to numerous unfounded allegations from an official “assessment” published in The New Times.
