No developments observed this year.

It was reported that the Rwandan government continued to eliminate references to ethnic origin from state documents and national identity cards.¹“Rwanda Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997,” U.S. Department of State, 1998, accessed September 14, 2011, http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1997_hrp_report/rwanda.html…

No developments observed this year.

The mention of ethnicity was officially removed from identity cards when the new government began to issue cards in 1995.²

After the genocide, the national unity government eliminated all ethnic references from official documents. According to a news report, Mr. Kagame, the leader of the victorious rebel movement, said that both the personal identification card and official documents would contain no references to ethnic origins.³

As a way out of ethnic conflict in Rwanda, the Arusha accord sought to eliminate ethnic identity and promote inter-ethnic reconciliations. In this regard, the accord called for the deletion of references to ethnic grouping in official documents, as well as a rejection of political ideology based on ethnic identity. No developments occured this year.

In November 2002, the constitutional commission put forward a draft constitution, according to which the transitional period (and under which the government of national unity had been governed since its establishment on 19 July 1994) was set to end in July of the following year.⁴

Postscript: A two day cabinet meeting was held in February 2003 to discuss the draft constitution. The president, who was presiding over the discussion, then handed over its findings to the national assembly for the national referendum scheduled for 25 May.⁵ The draft constitution was adopted by the assembly on 23 April 2003.⁶ In the referendum of 25 May 2003, the draft constitution was adopted with more than 90% voters supporting the proposed draft.⁷ Once the Rwandan Supreme Court approved the referendum result, president Kagame signed the new constitution which then came into effect on 4 June 2003.⁸ The RPF-led government implemented extensive gender-based reforms, including changing inheritance laws and property laws to increase women’s rights. The new constitution encouraged the election of many women to public office, particularly parliament.

No developments observed this year.

In 2000, the constitutional drafting commission was established and the constitution drafting process began in Rwanda. The participation of citizens in the process was encouraged and, in this regard, the prime minister called on local leaders to play a role in sensitizing and mobilizing the population towards full participation in the ongoing constitution drafting process.⁹ Regarding the draft constitution, the commission also consulted prisoners and refugees in Tanzania and South Africa. The draft constitution was defined the system of government and was expected to be finished by July 2003.¹⁰

No developments observed this year.