Rwanda is the first country in the world where women outnumber men in parliament, with women occupying 45 out of 80 seats. However, despite this, experts say that the country still needs a gender equality perspective on how national resources and programmes are implemented. 'The move will help ensure government spending addresses the needs of women and men equitably,' said Susan Mutoni, referring to the situation in Rwanda. Mutoni is the project coordinator of gender responsive budgeting in Rwanda’s ministry of finance and economic planning. Since 2009, the country has been part of a three-year pilot programme, the Gender Equitable Local Development (GELD), which is organised by UN Women and the United Nations Capital Development Fund.

An appeals court in The Netherlands on Thursday 7 July sentenced a Rwandan citizen living in the country to life in prison for crimes committed during the genocide in 1994. Joseph Mpambara, 43, was found guilty by the appeals court of torture causing the deaths of two Tutsi mothers and their four children on 13 April 1994, upholding a previous lower court conviction.

A woman paddling a canoe no longer arouses curiosity in eastern Rwanda. While still not a common sight, you can readily spot women wearing orange life jackets and sitting alongside men, paddling canoes and fishing on Lake Rwakibare. The president of a co-operative says, 'We currently have over 260 members, including more than fifty women.' The president says, 'Why should women expect their husbands to provide everything? In addition, current government policy requires that women are involved in all sectors, and that includes fishing.'

Judges at the UN court for Rwanda have sentenced a former Rwandan minister for women's affairs, to life in prison for genocide and incitement to rape. The ruling by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) means that Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, 65, is the first women to be ever convicted of genocide. She was found guilty on seven of the 11 genocide charges she faced for atrocities committed in Rwanda's southern Butare region in 1994.

ARTICLE 19 has urged the Rwandan Parliament to pass the Access to Information Bill that was adopted by the Rwandan Cabinet on 1 June 2011 as a matter of priority. 'The Rwandan Government’s adoption of the Access to Information Bill is a clear acknowledgement of the key role free flow of information can play in good governance and transparency and in the sustainable development of the country. The Rwandan Parliament must now expedite the enactment process so that the people of Rwanda can start enjoying the benefits of this law,' said Henry Maina, Director, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa.

Rwanda's community-based gacaca courts have helped communities confront the country's 1994 genocide but have failed to provide credible decisions and justice in a number of cases, Human Rights Watch said in a report released 31 May. As the gacaca courts wind down their work, Rwanda should set up specialised units in the national court system to review alleged miscarriages of justice, Human Rights Watch said. The 144-page report, 'Justice Compromised: The Legacy of Rwanda's Community-Based Gacaca Courts', assesses the courts' achievements and outlines a number of serious shortcomings in their work, including corruption and procedural irregularities.

Journalist Ian Birrell writes in the London Guardian: 'Returning home from a Saturday afternoon walk with the dog, I did what has become almost a reflex action and checked Twitter. Bizarrely, there was the president of Rwanda having a go at me over disparaging comments I had made about an interview he gave that morning. This was strange enough - not least since his missives to me were peppered with the sort of text abbreviations used by teenagers (such as "Wrong u r..."). Even stranger, we then traded tweets over human rights and repression in his central African nation, his foreign minister even joining the fray.'

British journalist Ian Birrell got into a spirited exchange with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Twitter recently. Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs & Cooperation Louise Mushikiwabo also joined the discussion. The Daily Monitor has published the full transcript on their website.

The Arusha-based United Nation's court for Rwanda handed a 30-year prison sentence Tuesday (17 May) to former army chief Augustin Bizimungu for his role in the country's 1994 genocide. The court also convicted Augustin Ndindiliyimana, the former head of the paramilitary police, of genocide crimes but ordered his release as he had already spent 11 years behind bars since his arrest. Two other senior generals were each sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Reporters Without Borders says it is appalled by the Rwandan government’s determination to keep hounding one of its media bugbears, Jean Bosco Gasasira, editor of the bimonthly newspaper Umuvugizi and one of the country’s most outspoken journalists. Prosecutors have asked Rwanda’s supreme court to sentence him to ten years in prison on charges on which the Kigali high court acquitted him last September. Gasasira is charged with spreading rumours that incited civil disobedience, insulting the president and deliberately violating Rwanda’s media law. The supreme court, whose decisions cannot be appealed, is due to announce its verdict on 27 May.

Rwanda could become the first country in Africa to effectively fight cervical cancer following the launch of a comprehensive national prevention programme last week. Rwanda will be the first country in Africa to offer a national prevention programme that includes the most advanced technologies and tools to protect girls and women from the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer. HPV is a very common sexually transmitted infection among women worldwide, with more than 270,000 dying each year.

ARTICLE 19 has released its analysis of the Draft Law Relating to the Protection of Whistleblowers of Rwanda. The analysis highlights the weaknesses of the Draft Law and calls for its revision in the light of international standards. ARTICLE 19 says the protections offered to whistleblowers against retribution by their bosses are not wholly convincing, and the range of subjects on which a disclosure may be made is limited.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has backed calls for reform of the media law in Rwanda following the ruling of the High Court in Kigali which sentenced the editor and a journalist of the private newspaper, Umurabyo, to lengthy jail terms for 'ethnic discrimination, genocide ideology, defamation and inciting civil disobedience'. 'The need for reforming the Rwandan media law to decriminalize press offences is urgent in the light of this harsh ruling against the two journalists,' said Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office.

The Rwandan government plans to expand its national voluntary male circumcision programme using a new device, the PrePex system, which officials say saves both time and money. The PrePex system works through a special elastic mechanism that fits closely around an inner ring, trapping the foreskin, which dries up and is removed after a week. A study conducted by the Rwandan Ministries of Defence and Health in 2010 found the device to be safe and effective.

Two Rwandan journalists with the Umurabyo newspaper have been sentenced to long jail terms after being found guilty of stirring up ethnic divisions. Editor Agnes Nkusi was sentenced to 17 years, while reporter Saidath Mukakibibi was imprisoned for seven.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) member states are set to discuss the human right situation in Rwanda for the first time, at the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR), that will be held on 24 January 2011 in Geneva. ARTICLE 19’s submission to the UN Human Rights Council in July 2010 highlights three areas of concern which the organisation hopes to see reflected in the upcoming review. These include (1) limits on freedom of expression through restrictive media law and criminal defamation (2) harassment and attacks on journalists; (3) genocide ideology legislation.

The head of a Rwandan rebel group accused of committing war crimes in Democratic Republic of Congo has been extradited from France to The Hague. Callixte Mbarushimana was arrested in Paris last October, following a request from the International Criminal Court. The Hutu rebel leader has denied accusations that he ordered his FDLR fighters to kill and rape civilians.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) member states are set to discuss the human rights situation in Rwanda for the first time, at the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR), that will be held on 24 January 2011 in Geneva.

Rwanda has made the protection of its remaining forests a priority, and set a target of increasing forest cover to 30 per cent by 2020 – a goal it seems set to achieve well ahead of schedule.
The country is still losing precious primary forest – the almost complete destruction of the Gishwati Forest in the northwest between by people displaced by the genocide is an example – but this is offset by the aggressive campaign against unsustainable use of forests while promoting tree-planting across the country.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a statement opposing prosecution demands for lengthy prison sentences for the editor and deputy editor of the independent weekly Umurabyo. State Prosecutor Agustin Nkusi requested a 33-year prison sentence for Editor Agnès Uwimana and 12 years for her deputy, Saidati Mukakibibi, at a High Court hearing in the capital, Kigali. The two, arrested in July 2010, face charges of incitement to violence, genocide denial, and insulting the head of state in connection with several opinion pieces published in mid-2010, according to news reports.