Beyond the veneer of reconciliation: human rights and democracy in Rwanda

In this Opinion piece, PhD candidate Jennifer Melvin argues that Rwanda’s national unity and reconciliation programme promotes two differing but inter-related political images at the domestic and international levels. She analyses how these images are constructed and disseminated to the national population and international community of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), donors and foreign investors. Jennifer argues that the current Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) government successfully manipulates national reconciliation to bolster political support, silence opposition and promote development that is primarily uneven. She urges the Commonwealth to look beyond the appearance of unity, and reconciliation to consider the detrimental consequences of government programming upon democracy and human rights in Rwanda.