A/HRC/19/56/Add.1 more effectively to local circumstances, the needs of certain excluded groups such as the Batwa are not being met due to their poor participation and representation in political life even at the local level. 77. The Senate Report of 2007 stated: “it is noticeable that leaders do not go up to them in order to know their problems … do not go and see them so as to listen to their concerns … [and) are not sufficiently concerned about their problems”. 36 It was evident from the independent expert‟s consultations that local authorities continue to pay insufficient attention to Batwa issues. 78. The independent expert was informed that some political parties had been banned and certain opposition politicians arrested and detained. A 2010 Amnesty International report37 states, “political opposition groups were intimidated, harassed and prevented from registering in the run-up to the 2010 presidential elections, as happened during the 2003 presidential elections and 2008 legislative elections. A 2009 Media Law placed undue restrictions on press freedom … Restrictions on freedom of expression and association, compounded by ambiguous „genocide ideology‟ and „sectarianism‟ laws … have a cumulative effect in silencing dissent in Rwandan society.” 79. The Government states that some political parties have been lawfully refused registration on the grounds that they contravene the Constitutional prohibition of political parties based on race, ethnic group or tribe and that do not reflect the unity of the people of Rwanda. It notes, however, that the law governing political parties is under review. A draft new law provides that registration will be administered by an independent institution, the Rwanda Governance Board. It has also informed the independent expert of other planned reforms in the regulation of media and access to information. 80. Two opposition parties, PS-Imberakuri and FDU-Inkingi, reportedly with a support base among the Hutu, have allegedly faced restrictions and their respective leaders, Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire, were imprisoned and unable to contest 2010 elections. Mr. Ntaganda is accused of divisionism and genocide ideology and Ms. Ingabire faces accusations of links with a terrorist group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Such activities may serve to fuel perceptions, conveyed to the independent expert by sources inside and outside Rwanda, that political freedoms are restricted and that an ethnic-based political elite exists, and is resistant to meaningful democratic reforms. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 81. The Government of Rwanda must be commended for many of its post-genocide initiatives and positive practices to promote healing and transformation, development and growth. It is now a country that is unrecognizable in comparison to 1994 – a country of increasing opportunity, prosperity and stability. Importantly, the Government also acknowledges that many challenges remain, including to fully establish and maintain the conditions for lasting stability and peace based on equality for all. 82. The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda along ethnic lines. Group identity and divisions, whether real, perceived, or socially constructed, nevertheless existed and were tragically deepened by those shocking events. Seventeen years after the genocide, it is difficult for an outside observer to fully assess the extent to which different ethnic 36 37 Report on the Conditions of Some Rwandans Disadvantaged Throughout History, sect. III.2.1. Amnesty International, Safer to Stay Silent, p. 12. 19