Rwanda's responses to money laundering

1.4 An Overview of the Rwandan Legal System

The courts in Rwanda are classified into two categories: the ordinary courts consisting of five organs, namely, the Supreme Court, High Courts, Intermediate Courts, Primary Courts, and the specialised courts, which include Military Courts and Commercial Courts. The Judiciary is headed by a Chief Justice who is assisted by a Deputy Chief Justice.

Rwanda has a mixed legal system, which means its law has both Civil and Common Law features. The Constitution is the highest law of the land, followed, in order of supremacy, by international instruments binding the country, organic Laws, ordinary laws and promulgated decrees. This ranking takes precedence in cases where legal provisions contradict each other.

1.5 Rwanda in the Great Lakes

1.5.1 Regional Security

The importance of regional security to Rwanda derives from the suspicion that Rwanda's current, relative economic wellbeing stems from its exploitation of the neighbouring DRC's mineral resources. These proceeds coming from regional conflicts, which are frowned upon internationally, are laundered through development projects in other neighbouring countries.¹⁸

In fact, its involvement in DRC conflict dates back to 1995, when Rwanda contributed to the overthrow of the then President Mobutu Sese Seko, based on the fact that the latter was

18 See Watson Institute for International Studies Colonialism in the Congo: Conquest, Conflict, and

Commerce (2005), available at http://projects.ecfs.org/eastwest/Readings/CongoSim.pdf (accessed on 20 October2014).

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harbouring the Force Democratique pour la Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR),¹⁹ a Rwandan rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo which, according to the Rwandan government, is composed of perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.²⁰

Rwanda is said to have aided many militia groups in the eastern part of the DRC in order annihilate its main guerrilla opponent, the FDLR. In the effort to end this war, various regional initiatives were launched, such as the deployment of the Foreign Intervention Brigade (FIB),²¹ the main purpose of which was to neutralise all the rebel groups operating in the DRC.

Towards the end of 2013, the FIB managed to overrun and disarm some of the main rebel groups which, according to many security analysts, has resulted in the removal the buffer zone that protected Rwanda from FDLR attacks, thus creating tension between Rwanda, on the one hand, and Tanzania and South Africa,²² on the other. Rwanda is accusing the other two of providing logistics, military bases, intelligence, and evacuation services for the FDLR.²³

19 Carole C `Southern Africa: A new Congo in a new region' (1998) Vol 13 No. 3 South African Report,

available at http://www.africafiles.org/printableversion.asp?id=3797 (accessed on 16 July 2014).

20 Richard M `FDLR: From architects of genocide to Congo rebels' The Citizen 13 November 2013 3, available

at http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/magazine/political-reforms/FDLR--From-architects-of-genocide-to-Congo-rebels-/-/1843776/2071452/-/13xleh6/-/index.html (accessed on 17 July 2014).

21 The Foreign Intervention Brigade is composed of troops from South Africa, Malawi and Tanzania.

22 Machira P `Tanzania-Rwanda relations may worsen - MPs' IPP Media 31 May 2014, available at

http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/?l=68415 (accessed on 17 July 2014). See also Gabriel G `Rwanda activist murder 'linked to DRC' conflict' BBC News Africa 27 March 2014, available at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26762930 (accessed on 17 July 2014).

23 Shyaka K `Unholly Alliance: MONUSCO together with the Foreign Intervention Brigade (FIB) work with the

FDLR and the Congolese army, FARDC' Rwanda Focus 29 July 2013, available at http://focus.rw/wp/2013/07/unholy-alliance/ (accessed on 5 July 2014).

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1.5.2 Who Benefits from the Minerals?

The DRC has always accused Rwanda of exchanging military support for minerals mined by rebel groups.²⁴ Rwanda, in reply, has always denied having any economic interest in the Eastern DRC, stating that it has a proper, professional mineral certification process.²⁵

Regardless of the veracity of Rwanda's response to the DRC accusation, there is no denying the fact that the DRC government has lost control of its eastern territories in which armed rebel groups flourish and proliferate because of their unlawful exploitation of the mineral resources, something they do with impunity.²⁶ Some of the rebel groups are not even involved in the conflict.²⁷

24 Daniel R. `Mineral smuggling in Central Africa: The case of Rwanda, Uganda and perpetual violence in the

DRC' Consultancy Africa Intelligence 18 February 2013, available at

http://www.consultancyafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1222:mineral-smuggling-in-central-africa-the-case-of-rwanda-uganda-and-perpetual-violence-in-the-drc-&catid=57:africa-watch-discussion-papers&Itemid=263 (accessed on 22 July 2014).

25 Editor `A lasting solution will come by addressing the real issues of governance' The East African 15
December 2012, available at http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Address-governance-issues-for-lasting-solution/-/2558/1644690/-/swxrrlz/-/index.html (accessed on 22 July 2014).

26 Channel Research, Joint Evaluation of Conflict Prevention and Peace-Building in the Democratic Republic of

Congo (2010) 8, available at http://www.channelresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010-04-Policy-Report-light.pdf (accessed on 15 September 2014).

27 Andrews A and Nyambura G `Addressing the `conflict minerals' crisis

In the Great lakes Region' (2012) Policy Brief No. 35 I55 3, available at

http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/No35GreatLakes.pdf (accessed on 5 July 2014).

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