Contribution of the commonwealth of nations in human rights enforcement through freedom of press in Rwanda

Abstract

This thesis aimed to describe the process in which the Commonwealth of Nations contributed to advancing the socialization of human rights values in Rwanda as a Member State. Taking into account the role that the media had in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, freedom of press was chosen as the human rights focus of this thesis in order to see its possible progress and persistent challenges in Rwanda, followed by the extent to which the Commonwealth contributed to that outcome. Looking at the bigger picture, this research intended to contribute to the discourse regarding the work of international organizations, focusing on their capabilities to trigger and aid changes in a Member State’s status quo that defies the values of said organizations. This study employed the qualitative research method, where secondary data such as books, journal articles, and online news articles were utilized to formulate its content. Furthermore, the theoretical framework used is the Spiral Model of Human Rights Change proposed by Sikkink, Risse, and Ropp. The theory elaborated on five stages of human rights socialization: 1) repression and activation of the advocacy network, 2) denial, 3) tactical concessions, 4) prescriptive status, 5) rule-consistent behaviour. The research found that the Commonwealth contributed to the promotion of press freedom in Rwanda mainly by providing external pressure to the government and acting as a forum for Member States to discuss and declare their commitments in human rights enforcement. Even so, there were two main problems found pertaining to the Commonwealth’s contribution: First, lack of proper documentation on their strategies and program implementations as an international organization. Second, lack of reforms and strong actions from the Commonwealth itself. The organization needs to be more active to make their presence known and reemphasize that the organization is worth maintaining.