The right to freedom from discrimination in Rwanda
| DOI | 10.1177/1358229120956497 |
| Author | Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi |
| Published date | 01 June 2020 |
| Date | 01 June 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The right to freedom
from discrimination in
Rwanda
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi
Abstract
Discrimination is prohibited in different provisions of the 2003 Constitution of Rwanda
(the Constitution), in different pieces of legislation and in international and regional
human rights treaties ratified by Rwanda. According to the 2003 Constitution, one of the
fundamental principles which have to be upheld by the State is the ‘eradication of dis-
crimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region or on any other ground as well as
promotion of national unity’. Article 15 of the Constitution provides for equality before
the law and Article 16 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination and it provides for the
grounds on which a person shall not be discriminated against. Rwanda is also one of the
very few African countries whose constitutions criminalise discrimination and different
laws have been enacted to deal with the offence of discrimination. The Supreme Court of
Rwanda, the highest court in the country, has handed down decisions on Articles 15 and
16 of the Constitution. The purpose of this article is to analyse these decisions and
illustrate how the Supreme Court has dealt with the issues such as the definition of
discrimination and the difference between discrimination and differentiation. The author
also discusses the issues that the Rwandan judiciary and prosecutors are likely to face
when dealing with the offence of discrimination.
Keywords
Discrimination, Rwanda, grounds, differentiation, prosecution, punishment,
criminalisation, Supreme Court, Africa
Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
Corresponding author:
Jamil Ddamulira Mujuzi, Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape, Bellville
7535, South Africa.
Email: djmujuzi@gmail.com
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
2020, Vol. 20(2-3) 156–180
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1358229120956497
journals.sagepub.com/home/jdi
Introduction
Discrimination is prohibited in different provisions of the 2003 Constitution of Rwanda
(hereafter referred to as the Constitution),
1
in different pieces of legislation
2
and inter-
national and regional human rights instruments ratified by Rwanda.
3
The Constitution
provides that one of the fundamental principles which have to be upheld by the State of
Rwanda is the ‘eradication of discrimination and divisionism based on ethnicity, region
or on any other ground as well as promotion of national unity’.
4
Article 15 of the
Constitution provides for equality before the law and it is to the effect that ‘[a]ll persons
are equal before the law. They are entitled to equal protection of the law’. Article 16 of
the Constitution prohibits discrimination and it provides that:
(1) All Rwandans are born and remain equal in rights and freedoms.
(2) Discrimination of any kind or its propaganda based on, inter alia, ethnic origin, family or
ancestry, clan, skin colou r or race, sex, region, eco nomic categories, religion or faith,
opinion, fortune, cultural differences, language, economic status, physical or mental dis-
ability or any other form of discrimination are prohibited and punishable by law.
In Re. Murangwa (2019)
5
the Supreme Court referred to Articles 15 and 16 of the
Constitution and to its earlier case law (para. 32) and held that they complement each
other and that (para. 34) ‘[i]n simple terms, equality before the law means that all persons
are equally treated before the law without inequality, nor discrimination ...’. Although
Article 16 provides the grounds on which a person shall not be discriminated against, it
does not define discrimination. Rwanda has ratified several international and regional
human rights instruments which prohibit discrimination. These include the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against All Forms of Discrim-
ination against Women and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. After
ratification, international treaties become part of Rwandan law.
6
This could be the reason
why the Supreme Court, the highest court in Rwanda,
7
has referred to some of these
treaties in some of its judgments.
8
Case law from the Supreme Court shows how the
Court has interpreted other pieces of legislation in the light of Articles 15 and 16 of the
Constitution and the international treaties ratified by Rwanda. This case law shows,
among other things, the Supreme Court’s understanding of some of the grounds against
which a person may not be discriminated against and the differences between differ-
entiation and discrimination. In order to protect and promote the right to freedom from
discrimination, between 2001 and 2018 Rwanda enacted different laws criminalising
discrimination. These laws have raised different issues that are worthy discussing. The
purposes of this article are to highlight the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court on the
grounds against which a person may not be discriminated against and the difference
between differentiation and discrimination; suggest ways in which the Supreme Court
can better approach the definition of discrimination; and also discuss with the issue of
punishing discrimination. The article starts with the definition of discrimination.
Mujuzi 157
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