| Summary: | "The Rwandan authorities have improved the delivery of justice in the last five years, a noteworthy achievement given the problems they faced. But the technical and formal improvements in laws and administrative structure have not been matched by gains in independence in the judiciary and assurance of rights to fair trial. This report, the result of research conducted between 2005 and 2008, assesses recent changes in the conventional courts, including the provision of greater administrative autonomy for the judicial system, the reduction in number of courts and judges, and the establishment of higher educational criteria for judicial appointments. The report notes some improvements in human rights, including the abolition of the death penalty, but points out the simultaneous establishment of the new penalty of life imprisonment in solitary confinement, which appears tantamount to torture. The report also shows that some judges remain subject to pressure from members of the executive branch and other powerful persons and that basic fair trial rights are not fully assured--including the presumption of innocence, the right of equal access to justice, the right to present witnesses in one's own defense, the right to humane conditions of detention, the right to freedom from torture, and the right to protection from double jeopardy."
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