References: A citizen's liberty is guaranteed by the State.

In law, according to the constitutional provisions in Chapter 1on fundamental human rights (Articles 18 and 19), no one shall be subjected to prosecution, arrest, detention or punishment on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a crime under the law in force at the time it was committed.

Article 19 stipulates that every person accused of a crime shall be presumed innocent until his or her guilt has been conclusively proved in accordance with the law in a public and fair hearing in which all the necessary guarantees for defense have been made available.

Article 21 guarantees rights to citizens to sue any government official or organ for infringement of their civil rights in a competent court of law.

Peer Review Comments: Yes, but these laws regarding government infringement of civil rights are untested.

With less than a year to go for the presidential elections, President Paul Kagame is now more persuasive and more calculating in whatever decision his government makes. For instance, before he sings any legislation into law, he gauges the public opinion on it.

References: One credible interviewee emphatically said that "In practical terms, the chief executive, who in Rwandan context is President of the Republic, explains and gives reasons in general public interests for his government's policy decisions, and he must do that within the confines of law"--Dr. Devis Kashaka, Coordinator of the Forum for Activists Against Torture (FACT) a local human rights NGO, interview September 30.

Arthur Asiimwe, political editor, The New Times says: "The President has always explained the rationale of the government's policy decisions in public addresses. And even where certain policy decisions are not clear to the public, the media challenges him in his now 'traditional monthly' press conferences." (September 27).

Peer Review Comments: Yes, President Kagame, gives regular press conferences, but not all media representatives are invited. The president's office furnishes invitations to selected local and foreign media: Rwanda Television, Radio Rwanda and The New Times top the list.

Peer Review Comments: Kagame owns the political space and rarely appears oppositional in public. Instead, he has other senior members of government make decisions for him. If there is backlash (which is rare), the senior official that announced the initiative is called to Parliament to account. In some cases, these individuals are retired or asked to resign.

References: In law, the supreme court representing the judicial arm of the state can review the actions of the executive under Article 145 of the constitution. Section 3 of this article mandates the court to make rulings on the constitutionality of organic laws and decrees establishing internal regulations of the executive. The court is also mandated to hear petitions on the constitutionality of laws and decrees in section 5 while it can also resolve, upon request, disputes relating to powers arising between state organs.

References: According to one reliable interviewee, "The judiciary can review certain executive actions which are not politically sensitive, but it is limited in its effectiveness when it comes to challenging the executive issues because the Chief Justice and his team are nominees of the President"--Arthur Asiimwe observed in the interview.

Prof. Laurent Nkusi, former Minister, who is currently a University don and active politician with the Liberal Party says: "The judiciary may be slow to act and is unwilling to take on politically sensitive issues because, although their powers are protected by the law, they fear being replaced under unclear circumstances." He added: "After all, weren't their candidatures to the post proposed by the President?"

References: In practice, according to credible interviewees President Kagame limits the use of executive orders for establishing new regulations, policies, or government practices. Professor Laurent Nkusi cites examples of when the President initiated an education policy introducing English as the language of instruction in higher learning institutions instead of French which had been used before.

Arthur Asiimwe (referred to above) also cites the recent government move that auctioned almost all government vehicles and obliged the majority of the officials to acquire their own vehicles at subsidized costs: "The Government was spending billions on maintenance because of the officials' careless; they didn't incur costs, but now they are very calculating because the vehicles are private."

Peer Review Comments: The evidence cited here does not address the question regarding the use of executive orders. Kagame rules with impunity. See "Re-Engineering Rural Society: The Visions and Ambitions of the Rwandan Elite" by Ansoms in African Affairs 2009 which illustrates how the divide between the political elite and Rwanda's rural population can be seen in agricultural re-structuring programs.

References: In law, the Rwandan constitution, Article 98, provides that the President of the Republic is the Head of State. He or she is the guardian of the Constitution and guarantees national unity. He or she guarantees the continuity of the state, the independence and territorial integrity of the country and respect of international treaties and agreements and shall only prosecuted for crimes he or she allegedly committed after their final term of office.

References: According to the Rwandan Constitution, only a former head of state can be prosecuted for crimes he allegedly committed after expiration of his mandates, but government officials may be obliged to resign by the relevant appointing authorities and stand for criminal or civil liabilities pursuant to legal procedures under the code of criminal, administrative, civil and commercial procedures.

Peer Review Comments: I know of no cases where senior government officials have been prosecuted for misdeeds.

References: According to Article 182 of the constitution, the heads of state and government are obliged to faithfully declare their assets by filing asset disclosure forms and submitting the forms to the office of the Ombudsman upon taking up and upon leaving office.

Peer Review Comments: Yes, but these assets are not disclosed publicly unless there is a discrepancy between the reported amount and the official's actual assets. In other words, this is hardly a transparent process.

References: In law, ministerial-level officials are required to file a regular asset disclosure form. Article 182, paragraph 3, obliges the Ombudsman's office to request and examine declaration of assets from cabinet ministers, legislators, judges, heads of public institutions, accountants, governors, mayors, heads of departments and any any other civil servants determined by law to file asset disclosures before June 30 of every year.

Peer Review Comments: Yes, but asset disclosures are also not disclosed unless there are irregularities.

References: In law, there are no specific regulations governing gifts and hospitality offered to members of the executive, unlike the legal obligation to regularly declare assets to the office of Ombudsman. However, according to information minister Louse Mushikiwabo, a code of conduct document for all senior government officials is being designed.

References: In law, the office of Ombudsman is empowered by the constitution under Article 182 and section 3 of the law on the organization and functions of the office of the Ombudsman. The office is mandated to receive and examine the validity of declared assets. The office has discretion to take punitive actions accordingly (paragraph 7).

Peer Review Comments: This law regarding the independent auditing of the executive branch asset disclosure forms has not been tested.

References: There is no legal provision that restricts heads of state and government and ministers from entering the private sector after they leave their government appointments.

Peer Review Comments: Many senior politicians and their families currently own private businesses. For example, Mrs. Kagame has the contract to import Bata shoes.

References: According to reliable interviewees, in practice, there are no regulations that restrict post-government private sector employment for heads of state and government and ministers. "Although by law the former heads of state are entitled to a retirement package, they are at liberty to engage in private business"--Prof. Laurent Nkusi in an interview mentioned above.

According to Victor Mugalura, a journalist for Rwanda Development Gateway, "There are a big number of former cabinet ministers who are no longer in public service, who are now doing their own private business" Mr. Mugalura was citing the case of Dr. Sam Nkusi, a former state minister for infrastructure, who was sacked two years ago after his involvement in a tender scam.

References: In practice, the regulations governing gifts and hospitality offered to members of the executive branch are not effective. Actually, according to the minister of information Louse Mushikiwabo, "The regulations that were expected to be codified in the code of ethics will be strictly implemented after approval of the legislature."

According to Ignitius Kabagambe, Director Ministry of Information, in an interview on September 25: "It's high time that restrictions governing gifts and hospitality offers are give serious attention because they can cause temptation." He added that the code of ethics document must include disciplinary measures against any public official who is caught accepting such offers.

References: In practice, executive branch asset disclosures (defined here as ministers and above) are audited.

According to Umunyana Charity, communications officer for Office of the Ombudsman said in an interview on September 30: "All the asset declarations are carefully cross-examined." She added that a number of personalities who gave inaccurate declarations have been relieved of their duties. Edwin Agaba, a journalist for the Business Daily newspaper, said he personally knows of a number of senior public officials who were tasked to reveal the actual sources of funds they used to acquire estates, adding the bank loans he sought were closely checked.

Peer Review Comments: Asset declarations are carefully examined for some ministers yes, but not those of the First Family.

References: In law, citizens cannot access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government. Pursuant to article 7 section 5 of the constitution governing the organization and functions of the Ombudsman's Office, faithfully declared assets shall be kept confidential unless the official in question is being prosecuted for corruption-related offenses; only the chief justice or prosecutor general can seek access to the declared assets of the accused during prosecution.

References: In practice, citizens cannot access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government within a reasonable time period. According to Ngirishuti Vedeste, a legal officer, Office of the Ombudsman in an interview held on October 1," It's illegal for us to disclose asset records of any public officer to citizens unless it is in regard to a criminal offense; only the judicial personnel can request their records.

Felly Kimenyi a journalist for The New Times confessed, "I have even tried to access asset records of a public official under investigation, but the ombudsman Dr. Tito just laughed at me, saying I was very ignorant."

References: According credible sources, in practice, citizens cannot access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government at a reasonable cost. Umurerwa Kellen, public relations officer, Office of the Ombudsman said on September 29 that, "Citizens can only access the asset disclosure records through the public prosecutions office of the Chief Justice in cases where an official is facing corruption charges in in court. She added that otherwise the declared assets remain confidential.

Chris Kayumba, a journalism lecturer, National University of Rwanda, says: "Accessing the assets disclosure records of heads of state and government may create mistrust between the leaders and their subjects." He hastened to add: "Provided the Prosecutor General's office and the judiciary are legally authorized access to asset disclosure records of criminal suspects for investigation, then there is no need for citizens to demand access" (October 2 interview in Butare).

Peer Review Comments: I disagree with Kayumba. Why deny citizens access when there's nothing wrong with the records?

References: In practice, the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government are of high quality and indisputable according to according to Dr. Tito Rutaremara. "The head of state has always shown an exemplary integrity and declared his assets before any other official and this has no doubt made it easy for this office to get the filed disclosure forms on time" he said in an interview referred to earlier.

Dr. Devis Kashaka, coordinator of Forum for Activists Against Torture (FACT; interview referred to earlier) says: "It's only trustworthy leadership manifested in the last decade that has improved the livelihood of ordinary citizens after the catastrophic events of four years of war and genocide that claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent people." He added that if the code of leadership ethics is made public in a gazette, it will strengthen transparency and accountability among government officials.

Peer Review Comments: Members of the public are left uninformed even though they are the ones who voted the leadership into office.

Peer Review Comments: Given the restrictions on disclosure of assets, this score is too high.

References: In practice, official government functions are kept separate and distinct from the functions of the ruling political party. "Throughout the past 15 years, the style of leadership of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) has been all inclusive, the ruling party has independent party leadership structures and party affairs are private assignments to the president and other members who may be in government," Professor Laurent Nkusi, member of the opposition argued.

Jonathan Mugihsa, program manager, World Vision, observed: "One thing here in Rwanda, there are no controversial party politics and this allows government officials to concentrate on their official duties- they do not mix party politics with official assignments" (Interview, September 25 in Kigali).

John Bosco Gasasira says: "We only come to hear of multi-party activities when parliamentary and presidential elections are about to occur; government officials only get involved during the official campaign calender schedule," he commented in an interview (referred to earlier).

Peer Review Comments: Critics would argue that Professor Nkusi is an example of how the so-called opposition in Rwanda that are puppets of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He dares not say anything critical of Kagame and his government: He knows if he did, he would risk losing his teaching job at his campus. The reality is, there is no clear distinction between the RPF and the Rwandan government.

Peer Review Comments: No, the government is the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). A good example is the protocol signed by the RPF, on behalf of the Rwanda, to enter into diplomatic relations with the ruling party of China.