Rwanda

The Treaty Body Reporting Task Force (TBRTF) is Rwanda's ad hoc national mechanism for implementation, reporting and follow-up. It is a cross-institutional body which brings together Government institutions (including Judiciary and Parliament) and Civil Society Organizations to jointly consider implementation of Rwanda’s human rights obligations.

INSTITUTIONAL SETUP

The Treat Body Reporting Task Force (TBRTF) is an ad hoc mechanism.

Composition All the Ministries are involved in the TBRTF under the coordination of the Ministry of Justice. Regarding appointment of focal persons, the Ministry of Justice wrote a letter to all concerned institutions requesting them to nominate a focal person and communicate the name of the nominated person to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice specified in the letter the qualifications needed for a person to be nominated. Once they are nominated, they contribute to the mandate of the TBRTF as an integral part of their job description. Focal persons remain the same, however depending on the task at hand or report being prepared the composition of the team may be different. For example focal points who may working on the Convention against Torture (CAT) could be different from those working on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The task force also includes focal points established under article 33 paragraph 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities as well as from the Gender Equality Mechanisms.

Secretariat The Treat Body Reporting Task Force (TBRTF) is supported by the department on International Justice and Judicial Cooperation within the Ministry of Justice. The department deals with Human Rights Treaty Body Reporting as well as the International Justice and Judicial Cooperation. In line with Human Rights Treaty Body Reporting, the department oversees and coordinates the process of State reporting on human rights at Regional (Africa Human Rights System) and International (United Nations Human Rights System) levels. This goes hand in hand with monitoring domestic implementation of Regional and International Human Rights Instruments ratified by Rwanda.

Methods of work The task force meets as soon as the Government receives the recommendations/concluding observations, as well as midway to evaluate the progress, before reporting to share information on the implementation and during the validation of the report. In most of the cases the meetings are convened by the Ministry of Justice which is the lead Ministry in state reporting work. However, for some conventions such as CEDAW and CRC, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion takes the lead however, with the technical assistance from the Ministry of Justice. Some improvement is still needed to organize regular meetings even when no specific report is required.

Institutional memory and training Focal points are trained on core international human rights at the UN level and African human rights mechanisms, with a focus on the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. However, this area still needs some improvements. Staff turnover affecting institutional memory is among the challenges.

MANDATE

The mandate of the Treaty Body Reporting Task Force (TBRTF) includes treaty body and UPR reporting as well as reporting to the African human rights system. So far, the task force has not been mandated to engage with UN Special procedures. It also works on following up and implementing recommendations received.

The Treaty Body Reporting Task Force (TBRTF) engages with all UN human rights mechanisms but the Special Procedures. It also engages with the African Human Rights System.

Process for the preparation of state reports After implementation, the reporting phase begins. The Ministry of Justice usually contacts all implementing agencies, asking them to report on how they have applied the relevant recommendations. This request is based on an implementation roadmap prepared by the TBRTF after receiving concluding observations from the relevant committee.

COORDINATION

Each reporting process involves data collection from all implementing ministerial departments and agencies as well as independent stakeholders. A stakeholders’ workshop is then held with representatives from the institutions (members of the TBRTF) to gather or complete the information provided. This information is then used to draft the state report.

While some TBRTF members may help with drafting, the main responsibility lies with the staff of the Department of International Justice and Judicial Cooperation within the Ministry of Justice. Once the draft report is ready, it is shared with all stakeholders—both state and non-state—for feedback until the final version is completed.

Based on the experience, collecting information is a challenging task. To mitigate this challenge, the Ministry has developed an IT-based system that will assist TBRTF members to regularly report on what their respective institutions are doing in terms of the implementation of the recommendations.

Linkages with the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals This is still a big gap, as there is no link between the two (the TBRTF and task force on the 2030 Agenda). However, it is important to note that in 2022, the Ministry of Justice, with the support of the UNDP, conducted a study on the 2019 Rwanda VNR and 2021 UPR recommendations. The main objective of this research was to conduct an in-depth assessment of the VNR and the recently adopted UPR recommendations for Rwanda with a human rights lens to identify synergies between the two frameworks and to make recommendations on how both frameworks can mutually reinforce one another and also support the domestication of the SDGs in Rwanda. This also includes identifying gaps in implementation, tracking them, and making policy recommendations for alignment with human rights commitments and principles.

Channel of communication with the National Statistics Office The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) has a focal person at the TBRTF.

Channel of communication with the Parliament The Parliament participates in the work of the TBRTF. The Ministry of Justice and the Parliament hold regular meetings to assess Rwanda’s engagement with treaty bodies and mechanisms such as the UPR.

Channel of communication with the Judiciary The Judiciary is represented through a focal person in the TBRTF.

CONSULTATION

Key non-governmental stakeholders are key actors in state reporting efforts. They are actively engaged in the entire process. Their contributions in the implementation are documented and reflected in Rwanda's state reports. They take an active role in the report drafting process from the collection of information to the validation of the final report.

Rwanda has adopted the National Human Rights Action Plan. It is currently being revised.

The Department on International Justice and Judicial Cooperation- Ministry of Justice