References: In law, civil servants who report cases of corruption, graft, abuse of power or abuse of resources are protected from recrimination or other negative consequences, pursuant to law No. 23/2003 of July 8,2003 relating to the punishment of corruption and related offenses.

Article 36: "In the legal proceedings and judgment of offences provided for by this law, the judge or any qualified authority handling the offences provided for by this law, must take all the necessary measures to ensure effective and appropriate protection for the following persons:

a) those who have supplied information concerning the offences provided for by this law or who collaborated in another way with authorities in charge of investigations or court proceedings;

b) witnesses who have made statements concerning the offences.

Peer Review Comments: Again the law regarding the protection of civil servants who report cases of corruption is untested. Given the harassment, intimidation and other tactics of control by the government, I think this "yes" needs to be qualified.

References: In practice, civil servants who report cases of corruption, graft or abuse of power are protected from recrimination or other negative consequences, according to credible sources.

Harson Mutabazi, Harson Mutabazi, a magistrate of the Kigali Court of Higher Instance (interview, Oct. 3, Nyamirambo Suburb, Kigali) says the witnesses are not only protected from recrimination but also get bonuses: "The anti-corruption law in its article 37 states that the court will reserve a bonus for whoever will have contributed to the denunciation of offenses provided for by this law, without having participated in committing these offenses. The bonus shall be as follows:

a) 1/10 of the value of the property confiscated from the author of the offence;

b) 20,000 RWF [US$35] to 100,000 RWF [US$177] that shall be paid by the guilty person where the offence denounced could not lead to property confiscation."

References: The statutory provision (Articles 36 & 37) of the law relating to punishment of corruption and related offenses generally protect and favors not only civil service witnesses but all citizens who cooperate with designated authorities in the fight against corruption, graft, abuse of power or abuse of public resources.

References: In practice, private sector employees who report cases of corruption, graft, abuse of power or abuse of resources are protected from recrimination or other negative consequences. According to reliable sources quoted above, in principle and practice, the fight against corruption and related crimes is the right and obligation of the citizens in their own interests and the law aforementioned protects them against any negative consequences.

References: According to the interviewees from the Ombudsman's Office, any injustice or corruption-related complaints may be personally taken to the office or via a phone hotline.

References: In practice, the internal reporting mechanism for public sector corruption has a professional, full-time staff.

According to Arthur Asiimwe, "The mandate to fight corruption is designated to, among others, the Office of the Ombudsman, which has a professional full-time staff, but they work in close collaboration with the public prosecutions office and the judiciary"

Mugisha Jile, investigator, Ombudsman's Office, (interview, Oct.1): "We work closely with police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and prosecutors to collect credible evidence against corrupt culprits."

References: In practice, the internal reporting mechanism for public sector corruption receives regular funding, according to Kalisa Swaibu the chief accountant, Office of the Ombudsman. The office gets a regular annual budget from the government: "But we are not restricted to that government contribution; under the law, we are at liberty to seek foreign or domestic funding."

Again according to Arthur Asiimwe (quoted above), "All the public bodies in the institutional mechanism against corruption have sufficient funding."

References: In practice, the internal reporting mechanism for public sector corruption acts on complaints within a reasonable time period.

Mugisha Jile, investigator, Ombudsman's Office, (interview, Oct.1) says: "Although the ombudsman has personnel constraints, we usually try to respond to complaints as soon as possible and I am sure the workforce will be strengthened sooner than later."

References: In practice, when necessary, the internal reporting mechanism for public sector corruption initiates investigations according to the Office of the Ombudsman annual report 2008. Thirty-five percent of corruption investigations are internally initiated while 65 percent of the cases investigated are initiated by external informants.

But Mugisha Jile, investigator, Ombudsman's Office, (interview, Oct.1) revealed that most serious corruption scandals are tracked via close collaboration between public prosecutors, police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and other government institutions.