Rwanda: Torture, ill-treatment during detention

• For decades, Rwandan authorities have subjected detainees, both in official and unofficial detention centers, to ill-treatment and torture without any accountability.
• A landmark trial of prison officials for murder, torture and assault, concluded in April, has shown that it is possible to start breaking the entrenched practice of torture.
• The government should launch a comprehensive investigation into torture in Rwandan prisons, with the help of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and United Nations experts.

(Nairobi) – For decades, Rwandan authorities have subjected detainees, both in official and unofficial detention centers, to ill-treatment and torture without any accountability, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Nevertheless, a landmark trial of six prison officials and twelve prisoners for murder, torture and ill-treatment in Rubavu Prison, which concluded in April 2024, has shown that it is possible to start breaking the entrenched practice of torture in Rwanda.

The 22-page report ‘They threw me in the water and beat me’: the need for accountability for torture in Rwanda’ documents torture and ill-treatment by prison officials and detainees at Nyarugenge prison in the capital Kigali; in Rubavu Prison, Western Rwanda; and in an unofficial detention center in Kigali known as ‘Kwa Gacinya’. Human Rights Watch found that judges ignored complaints from current and former detainees about unlawful detention and mistreatment, creating an environment of near-total impunity.

“Our research shows that prison officials have been allowed to torture prisoners with impunity for years, highlighting the failure of Rwandan institutions tasked with protecting the rights of detainees,” said Clémentine de Montjoye, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The groundbreaking trial of prison officials is an important first step toward accountability, but a more comprehensive response is needed to address the entrenched practice of torture in Rwanda.”

Between 2019 and 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 28 people, including 13 former detainees held in unofficial detention centers and in Rubavu and Nyarugenge prisons between 2017 and 2024. Human Rights Watch reviewed YouTube interviews of former prisoners who described being tortured. in detention and court documents relating to the trials of 53 people. They included some who testified at the trial of the former warden of Nyarugenge and Rubavu prisons, Innocent Kayumba, and seventeen others on charges of torture, ill-treatment, murder and other crimes.

Former detainees told Human Rights Watch about the ordeals detainees faced at locations called “Yordani” that existed in both prisons, where detainees were forced into a tank filled with dirty water, immersed, and beaten. Some said the prisoners were then made to run around the courtyard barefoot until they collapsed.

Kayumba was warden of Rubavu Prison until 2019 when he was transferred to Nyarugenge, the same year a detainee was murdered for which he would eventually stand trial. In Nyarugenge he introduced the same system of torture, former prisoners said. Human Rights Watch has obtained the names of 11 prisoners who former detainees said died in detention after being mistreated. Several of these cases were brought during Kayumba’s trial.

Human Rights Watch found a pattern of abuse, mock executions, beatings and torture in Kwa Gacinya dating back to at least 2011. In Kwa Gacinya, former prisoners said they were held in “coffin-like” cells and regularly beaten. and were forced to confess to the crimes they were accused of before being transferred to an official detention center. Human Rights Watch received information that Kwa Gacinya is now being used as a police station, although two security sources said abuse in the basement continues.

On April 5, the Rubavu High Court convicted Kayumba of the assault and murder of a detainee at Rubavu Prison in 2019 and sentenced him to 15 years in prison and a fine of 5 million Rwandan francs (about US$3,700). Two other Rwanda Correctional Service officers and seven prisoners, accused of acting on orders, were convicted of beating and killing prisoners. Three other correctional service officials were acquitted.

The trial delivered only partial justice, Human Rights Watch said. Officials were convicted of assault and murder but acquitted of torture, which carries harsher penalties. Several senior prison officials were acquitted despite the apparently damning evidence brought against them by former prisoners. The prisoners who were ordered to beat fellow prisoners received longer sentences, up to 25 years.

Rwanda’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) is not independent and is unable or unwilling to report on cases of torture. In May, Human Rights Watch submitted a third-party report to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, which monitors national human rights institutions’ compliance with the Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions (the Paris Principles), prior to the October meeting overview of the work of the NCHR.

Rwandan authorities routinely restrict the work of institutions mandated to monitor prison conditions and prevent torture. At the international level, the Rwandan government has prevented the United Nations and other institutions from independently carrying out essential monitoring work.

In May, Human Rights Watch offered to meet with the Rwandan Minister of Justice and the Chairman of the NCHR to share the preliminary findings of this investigation, but the senior investigator was denied entry upon arrival at Kigali International Airport. On September 10, Human Rights Watch sent letters to the Minister of Justice and the NCHR sharing the findings, but received no response.

Rwanda must uphold its own constitution and fulfill its obligations under international human rights law, in particular the absolute prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, Human Rights Watch said. Rwanda’s partners, especially those supporting Rwanda’s justice sector such as the European Union, must put pressure on the Rwandan government to intensify efforts to hold accountable all those responsible for torture.

The government should conduct a comprehensive investigation into torture in Rwandan prisons. To make the investigation credible, the government should enlist the help of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and UN experts, and publicly report its findings. Finally, Rwanda should cooperate with the UN Committee Against Torture and submit its state party report, due in December 2021, and allow the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to visit to detention centers to resume without hindrance.

“Kayumba’s case not only exposes serious problems in Rwanda’s correctional services, but also crucial shortcomings in the judiciary and the national human rights institution,” De Montjoye said. “These institutions must conduct a comprehensive investigation into the abuse and torture in Rwanda and implement the necessary systemic reforms.”