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{{A renowned Rwandan Lawyer Evode Uwizeyimana has protested against the interim report on the lack of freedom of association in Rwanda prepared by a Human rights consultant on behalf of the UN Commission for Human Rights.}}

Maina Kiai, author of the interim report, writes that the freedoms of human rights in Rwanda have a long way to go. He also indicated that the space for expression of political ideas is closed for political opponents in Rwanda.

Uwizeyimana, who is a lawyer and researcher at the University of Montreal in Canada, is also an international consultant in legal matters and respect for human rights near the Rwandan Ministry of Justice.

Speaking to IGIHE, Uwizeyimana said “Maina’s report does not reflect reality.” He said that Maina came with preconceived position on Rwanda that he does approve. “What he wrote is not what he saw”

However, Uwizeyimana said as a lawyer he is not the right person to answer this question of accuracy of Maina’s report better it should be addressed to spokesperson of the Rwandan Government.

But as someone who knows Maina, he has also the rights to make comments on what Maina wrote.

Uwizeyimana said that the findings that were included in that report are not different from other reports that were written by different rights groups including HRW’s which are full of prejudices about Rwanda.

The Rwandan Canadian lawyer said that “the UN Consultant burned the procedure of scientific research, he entered the prisons of Rwanda to meet with the detainees, but he has not approached the government side.”

The information he learned from prisoners, for my part, I do not give them any credit,” he said.

{{Peugeot Citroën, which has been manufacturing automobiles in France for over 100 years, has agreed to a deal that will see both the French government and Chinese carmaker Dongfeng buy large stakes in the struggling company.}}

Peugeot announced on Wednesday that its board had approved the agreement, in which the French government and Dongfeng will each invest 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) in exchange for 14% stakes in the company.

The move marks a huge transition for the carmaker, which up until now, has been controlled by the Peugeot family.

Under the agreement, the family’s 25% stake and 38 % of voting rights will now be reduced to equal both the French government and Dongfeng’s stake in the company.

The deal is crucial for Peugeot, which has struggled to stay afloat in recent years. Despite being France’s number one carmaker and the second largest in Europe, the company has been hit hard by poor sales, losing 5 billion euros in 2012 and cutting thousands of jobs.

The agreement will not only provide the company with much needed capital, but also hopefully expand its global presence, particularly in Asia.

Dongfeng said it and Peugeot will expand cooperation in technology, research and development, manufacturing and overseas distribution. It said the two sides will sign a formal agreement in March and continue work on their strategic partnership.

Dongfeng, which is based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, is one of China’s biggest auto producers but is largely unknown abroad.

In addition to its joint venture with Peugeot, it assembles vehicles for Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. and manufacturers cars and trucks under its own name.

Total auto sales in China rose last year by 15.7% despite a steady decline in growth in recent years. Growth is expected to fall further this year to 8 to 10%, still well above levels forecast for the United States, Europe and Japan.

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{{South Sudanese President Salva Kiir evoked the examples of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Rwandan President Paul Kagame as he called on the youth of his battle-scarred country to lead the way in reconciling the nation.}}

“There are two African leaders who you should take their examples,” Kiir said in a speech at a gathering of the youth movement of the ruling SPLM party, the first public rally he has attended since fighting broke out in mid-December.

Kiir urged South Sudanese to follow the examples of the two leaders and “reject revenge” and focus on reconciling the nation as Mandela did when he was released from prison in 1990 after being incarcerated under South Africa’s apartheid regime for 27 years, and Kagame did after the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

“If we want the people to be one and we want our nation to be one, we have to sit down and say, ‘Let us forget those who did this and even those who killed people’,” Kiir said.

He urged South Sudan’s youth not to do “something bad” just because someone else had, and to lead the reconciliation effort in the young country.

“Whether you are in Jonglei, in Upper Nile, Unity State or greater Bahr el Ghazal, forget about the people that you have lost and go back to think of how to reconcile,” Kiir told the rally.

“It is your duty as the youth to take this message home that we want this thing to stop,” he said.

Kiir denied reports that he or his government had singled out members of Machar’s Nuer ethnic group and stressed South Sudan’s tradition of forgiveness.

But he had harsh words for his main adversary in the conflict that has riven the country since December, former vice president Riek Machar.

Insisting that the unrest in South Sudan was the result of a coup bid led by Machar, Kiir called him selfish, and the clashes “unfortunate” and “uncalled for.”

“He chose the time because he knows this is when he will really pull back South Sudanese,” said Kiir, noting that the unrest began just weeks after hundreds of foreign investors had come to Juba for an international conference, and went away “excited” by the prospect of investing in South Sudan, only to see the country engulfed in violence.

Machar and six other members of the SPLM have all denied having anything to do with an attempt to oust Kiir.

Machar and two other senior members of the SPLM, Taban Deng Gai and Alfred Lado Gore, who fled the country or went into hiding shortly after the unrest began, were removed last week from the ruling party.

The government has said it has enough evidence to bring charges of treason against the three men and four other members of the SPLM who have been in detention in Juba since the fighting broke out.

Seven other SPLM members who were detained when the clashes erupted but freed more than a month later are currently in Addis Ababa, where they are acting as a third party in talks to try to reconcile the pro- and anti-government sides in the South Sudan clashes, and open a political dialogue to bring peace to the country.

VOA

{{The Chair of the Board of Transparency International, Huguette Labelle has been briefed on the role of National Public Prosecution Authority (NPPA) and Rwandan prosecutors in the prevention of crime.}}

Miss Huguette met with the Prosecutor General of Rwanda, Mr. Richard Muhumuza at NPPA offices at Kimihurura, Kigali.

She was briefed on the legislation applicable in Rwanda in prosecuting corruption related cases.

She was also informed that despite domestic legislation criminalizing such offences; Rwanda is also a signatory to the international Convention against Corruption and the African Convention against Corruption.

Miss Huguette was briefed on various mechanisms in place and the zero-tolerance policy to corruption that has, among others, placed Rwanda in the best positions on the corruption perception index at the international level.

She was informed that the cases of corruption investigated by NPPA are given priority.
Rwanda continues to demonstrate its ability in the fight against corruption and takes a leading role in the region and Africa in general.

This is manifested by the average score that Rwanda has received worldwide. As indicated by Transparency International, Rwanda moved from 89th position at global level in 2009 and is now at 49th position at global level (in 2013).

The same report indicates that Rwanda is at the 4th position in sub-Saharan Africa and at the 1st position in the East African region.