Council Common Position of 21 October 2002 on Rwanda and repealing Common Position 2001/799/CFSP
Date: 2002-10-21
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Rwanda, common foreign and security policy, common position, cooperation policy, democracy, economic reconstruction, human rights, peacekeeping

23.10.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 285/3

COUNCIL COMMON POSITION

of 21 October 2002

on Rwanda and repealing Common Position 2001/799/CFSP

(2002/830/CFSP)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in parti-
cular Article 15 thereof,

through its foreign policy, towards the achievement of regional
stability, as it does with all other parties to conflicts in the
region.

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

By Common Positions 2000/558/CFSP (1) and 2001/
799/CFSP (2),
the Council defined the objectives and
priorities of the European Union vis-à-vis Rwanda.

By Joint Action 96/250/CFSP (3) the Council nominated
a Special Envoy for the African Great Lakes Region.

Article 8 of
the partnership agreement between the
members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of
States, of the one part, and the European Community
and its Member States, of
the other part, signed in
Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (4), makes provision for the
establishment of a political dialogue between the
European Union and all States signatory to the Agree-
ment with a view to achieving the goals of the Agree-
ment, in particular with regard to peace, security and the
promotion of a stable and democratic political environ-
ment.

(4)

In the light of developments in Rwanda since November
2001, a new Common Position on Rwanda should be
adopted and Common Position 2001/799/CFSP should
be repealed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS COMMON POSITION:

Article 1

The objectives and priorities of the European Union in its rela-
tions with Rwanda are to encourage, stimulate and support the
process of:

(a) recovery from genocide and the promotion of national

reconciliation,

(b) reconstruction, poverty reduction and development,

(c) protection and promotion of human rights and funda-

mental freedoms,

(d) transition to democracy.

Noting that regional instability may play a part in jeopardising
the achievement of
the European Union shall
encourage the Government of Rwanda to work, in particular

these goals,

(1) OJ L 236, 20.9.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 303, 20.11.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 87, 4.4.1996, p. 1; as amended by Joint Action 2000/347/

CFSP (OJ L 122, 24.5.2000, p. 6).

(4) OJ L 184, 13.7.2002, p. 24.

Article 2

The European Union affirms that progress in the areas referred
to in Article 1 is primarily the responsibility of the Government
of Rwanda.

In order to support and encourage its efforts, the European
Union shall pursue a constructive and critical political dialogue
with the Government of Rwanda, including through the offices
of its Special Envoy to the African Great Lakes Region, on the
basis of the provisions in this Common Position.

Article 3

With regard to the Government of Rwanda's regional foreign
and security policy, the European Union:

(a) while welcoming the conclusion of the agreement between
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
signed in Pretoria on 30 July 2002, shall encourage the
Government of Rwanda to complete the withdrawal of
Rwandan troops from the DRC and to continue to adhere
to the Pretoria Agreement;

(b) shall urge the Government of Rwanda to keep the commit-
ments it made, inter alia, in Lusaka (July 1999), Kampala
(April 2000) and Harare (December 2000) in favour of a
negotiated, peaceful and rapid settlement of the crisis in the
DRC, and to comply with the relevant UN Security Council
resolutions,
in particular Resolutions 1304 (2000), 1341
(2001), 1355 (2001), 1376 (2001), 1399 (2002) and 1417
(2002);

(c) shall encourage the Government of Rwanda to use its influ-
ence to secure the respect of human rights and the security
of civilians in the eastern part of the DRC;

(d) shall

invite the Government of Rwanda to promote
dialogue and the systematic search for every peaceful solu-
tion with the competent authorities of the neighbouring
states involved in the crises in the DRC and Burundi;

(e) shall ask the Rwandan authorities, as it asks all parties to
the conflict, to take due account of the recommendations
and measures
could adopt
regarding the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the
DRC.

the United Nations

that

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Official Journal of the European Communities

23.10.2002

Article 4

(c) concerning the judicial system and the ‘Gacaca’ method of
administering justice (participatory justice based on tradi-
tional courts), the European Union will express that it:

With regard to the situation within Rwanda, the efforts of the
European Union shall be based on the following principles:

(a) concerning reconciliation and power-sharing, the European
Union shall encourage and support reconciliation among
all Rwandans within and outside Rwanda, through dialogue
between all groups which reject violence and genocide.
Such dialogue must be inclusive and seek improved power-
sharing, the democratisation of the country, national recon-
struction and the protection of minorities. While having
regard to the Government's own responsibility in this
matter, the European Union shall stress the importance it
attaches to the independence and the representativeness of
the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, whose
activities it supports;

(b) concerning democratisation, the European Union:

(i) shall stress the importance of respecting the political
balance laid down in Rwanda's basic law.
It shall
strongly encourage the Government of Rwanda and
the Legal and Constitutional Commission to finalise, in
close consultation with the population, the drafting of
a new constitution, designed to create a new institu-
tional framework for the country, to guarantee effec-
tive protection of the civil and political rights of Rwan-
including the free creation of political parties,
dans,
preservation of social cohesion and the safeguarding of
fundamental rights and freedoms;

(ii) shall stress the need for all inclusive participation in
the elections and shall urge the Government of
Rwanda to establish a voting mechanism that will
ensure free and fair elections, guaranteeing rights for
all Rwandans and for all sectors of society (including
political parties)
freedom of
including safeguards for free media, and
expression,
the participation of civil society in public debate and
transparency with regard to the whole electoral process
and electoral legislation;

to express their views,

(iii) shall welcome the announcement of the National Elec-
toral Commission that parliamentary and presidential
elections will take place in the second half of 2003 as
well as
the invitation issued to the international
community to monitor the elections;

(iv) shall stress its attachment to the independence that that
Commission should possess for the credibility of the
electoral processes and asks the authorities to guar-
antee the real independence of the Electoral Commis-
sion;

(v) shall

encourage

the Government of Rwanda

to
continue to extend the responsibilities, powers and
means of the elected local authorities so as to ensure
the participation of the local population in the political
and development process, and remains prepared to
support this process by appropriate means as well as
to continue to support the move towards decentralisa-
tion initiated by the Government in May 2000;

(i) welcomes the official launch of Gacaca tribunals and
encourages the Government of Rwanda to monitor
the forthcoming procedures in close cooperation with
national and international non-governmental organi-
sations;

(ii) acknowledges the constructive role that Gacaca may
play in resolving the consequences of the 1994 geno-
cide, in particular by speeding up the trial of persons
still in prison on suspicion of having taken part in the
genocide;

(iii) stresses the need to continue to implement

the
Gacaca system and to introduce community service,
while taking into account the fundamental rights of
all concerned;

(iv) in this respect encourages the Government of Rwanda
and the Supreme Court to ensure that Gacaca justice
is administered in line with international human
rights standards;

(v) also encourages the Gacaca courts to establish clem-
ency in general as a basic working principle and to
safeguard rights guaranteed by law both to those
accused, particularly as regards defence and appeals,
and to civil parties;

(vi) further encourages the Government of Rwanda to
make certain that all measures relating to the proper
administration of Gacaca justice are implemented, in
particular with regard to judicial procedure before
such courts;

(vii) will continue, with other partners of the Government
of Rwanda, to provide coordinated support to the
Gacaca system as implemented in accordance with
the aforementioned principles;

(viii) encourages

these principles,

to continue
the Rwandan authorities
raising awareness, among the population in general
and genocide survivors in particular, of the need to
accept
in order to deal simulta-
neously with the problem of impunity and to reach a
pragmatic solution to the alarming problem of a large
prison population awaiting trial under precarious
conditions of detention;

(ix) urges the Government of Rwanda to pursue its efforts
to reduce the prison population (in particular vulner-
able groups such as the elderly, the sick and infirm,
those who are currently under age or who were so at
the time of
for which they have been
arrested);

the act

(x) in this connection, welcomes the fact

that preli-
minary, examining Gacaca have taken place and led
to the release of a number of prisoners against whom
no case could be brought.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 285/5

The European Union shall:

(i) support the work of the International Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda (ICTR), located in Arusha, and in particular
renew its efforts to ensure that all States surrender to
the ICTR all those indicted by it for genocide and other
serious violations of international humanitarian law. It
shall seek continued improvement of
the tribunal's
administrative effectiveness;

(ii) urge the Government of Rwanda to comply fully with
its obligation to cooperate with the ICTR and to deliver
all
information asked by the ICTR regardless of the
persons or institutions concerned. The European Union
shall encourage the Government of Rwanda to comply
with its obligations under the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and to observe other inter-
national safeguards concerning the death penalty and
actively encourages it to envisage the abolition of the
death penalty.

The European Union shall also encourage the Government
of Rwanda to accede to the Statute of Rome of the Interna-
tional Criminal Court;

(d) concerning villagisation policy, the European Union shall
welcome the priority given to its poverty-reduction strategy
by the Government of Rwanda and its consideration of
voluntary villagisation in that framework;

(e) concerning human rights, the European Union shall:

(i) encourage the Government of Rwanda to continue its
cooperation with the office of the UN High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights;

(ii) urge the Government of Rwanda to promote and take
concrete steps to protect the human rights of all Rwan-
dans, including through ensuring the independent and
effective functioning of the National Human Rights
Commission and by facilitating the activities of human
rights organisations working in Rwanda;

(iii) encourage the National Human Rights Commission to
continue working with the non-governmental organi-
sations concerned, to step up its activities and to speed
up the implementation of its programme of action, to
which the Union is contributing;

(f) concerning economic and social development and coopera-
tion,
the European Union shall stress the close links
between proper implementation of the poverty-reduction
strategy paper and continued efforts by the Government of
Rwanda to contribute to the achievement of a return to
peace and security in the region, especially in the DRC, and
to consolidate the process of reconciliation and democrati-
sation in Rwanda.

will, subject
bodies,
European Union and Rwanda;

influence

to detailed examination by the competent
cooperation links between the

the

(g) concerning the reintegration into Rwandan society of geno-
cide survivors, demobilised soldiers and all other displaced
people, the European Union shall encourage and support
efforts by the Government of Rwanda to facilitate this
process, including through cooperation with relevant inter-
national organisations.

In particular, the European Union in cooperation with other
international institutions like the World Bank shall continue to
express its readiness to support
the
Rwandan army and a disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation
and reintegration plan for the negative forces (ex-FAR and
Interahamwe).

the demobilisation of

the question of
The European Union is convinced that
disarming Rwandan armed groups in the DRC,
like that of
disarming other armed groups, cannot be settled by force but
must be solved voluntarily and using incentives in within the
framework
countries
concerned.

undertakings

of political

the

by

Accordingly it shall demand that all States in the region refrain
from giving military support to these groups. It shall welcome
the programmes devised by the Government of Rwanda for
reintegrating returning refugees and shall urge the Government
of Rwanda to continue to admit in complete security all ex-
combatants and refugees who are not implicated in the geno-
cide or in war crimes, in particular as part of the disarmament,
reintegration operations
repatriation and
demobilisation,
provided for in the Lusaka and Pretoria Agreements.

Article 5

The Council notes that the Commission intends to direct its
action towards achieving the objectives and priorities of this
Common Position, where appropriate by pertinent Community
measures.

Article 6

In implementing this Common Position, the European Union
shall cooperate closely with the United Nations, the African
Union and other interested organisations.

Article 7

The implementation of this Common Position shall be moni-
tored regularly. It shall be reviewed within 12 months.

Welcoming the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the
DRC, the European Union shall reiterate that efforts with a
view to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the DRC

Article 8

Common Position 2001/799/CFSP is hereby repealed.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Article 9

This Common Position shall take effect on the day of its adoption.

This Common Position shall be published in the Official Journal.

Article 10

Done at Luxembourg, 21 October 2002.

For the Council

The President

P. S. MØLLER