Courts should be left to do their work without interference

Some western human rights activists have made it their business to interfere with Rwanda’s justice system.  They send signals that insinuate that the courts cannot dispense justice. But, over the years, the Rwandan courts are proved to be independent and impartial. They should be left to do their work without interference.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Some western human rights activists have made it their business to interfere with Rwanda’s justice system.  They send signals that insinuate that the courts cannot dispense justice. But, over the years, the Rwandan courts are proved to be independent and impartial. They should be left to do their work without interference.The judicial system in the country has been empowered to ensure a fair hearing of any case that comes before any court. The country invested enormous resources and efforts to rebuild the judicial system following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. It is an insult for human rights groups or any person to undermine these efforts through deliberate campaigns to undermine the country’s courts.Previous rulings by courts have showed a high degree of professionalism in the way cases have been handled. No organ whatsoever should be seen to be undermining the integrity and capacity of the country’s judicial system. There are no better witnesses to injustice than Rwandans themselves who experienced it firsthand.It is widely acknowledged that human rights organisations are useful institutions when it comes to curbing abuse and speaking for the voiceless, but this should not be done selectively.They cease to be meaningful when they turn to tyrannical methods of pressure, the very methods they so loudly claim to fight against.  Rwandan courts are not there to please anyone, but to dispense justice.