On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Rwanda LGBTQI+ Resources page.
To find organisations providing legal or other types of assistance to refugees in Rwanda, visit our Rwanda Legal Assistance page.
COI Experts
Email: andrea.purdekova@gmail.com
Tel: +44 (0)7 56 54 25 627
Dr Andrea Purdeková, D.Phil (Oxon), MSc (Oxon), MA (Johns Hopkins) is a researcher whose principal focus over the past five years has been the politics of reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. She conducted research in Rwanda in 2008/9 and has published on the topics of state, political dynamics and social transformation (unity and reconciliation, nation-building, collective identity/identity politics) in Rwanda, the areas she can offer expertise in asylum claims. Relevant publications: ‘Rwanda’s Ingando Camps: Liminality and the Reproduction of Power’, RSC Working Paper No. 80, 201; 2011 “Even if I am not here, there are so many eyes:” surveillance and state reach in Rwanda’, Journal of Modern African Studies 49(3): 475-497; and other to be supplied legal adviser via email on request. She speaks basic Kinyarwanda, Slovak/Czech, English, French, Spanish, and German.
Email: harryverhoeven33@gmail.com
Dr Harry Verhoeven is the Convenor of the Oxford University China-Africa Network, an Associate Member of the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford and a Senior Adviser to the European Institute of Peace. Prof Verhoeven completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford, where he subsequently was a postdoctoral fellow and a Junior Research Fellow. He is the author and editor of five books and is deeply invested in the human rights of individuals and communities in the countries where he works.
Email: hcameron@pearl-insights.com
Dr Cameron has academic expertise in East African and Southern African administrative, political, economic and social issues, with a specific focus on Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda and South Africa. She has over thirty years of experience providing expert witness testimony at criminal and civil courts of law in the UK and abroad, including the Torture Claims Appeal Board, in Hong Kong. She is fully conversant with the duties and responsibilities of an expert witness to the court. The expert is a critical criminologist with a particular research interest in state crime including genocide, crimes against humanity and other gross violations of human rights. She is qualified to provide comments on issues that include Abortion| Asylum| Country Case Law| Crimes Against Humanity| Criminal Justice System| Document Authentication| Disability| Domestic Violence| Education| Election Violence| Employment| Ethnic Groups| Ethnic Violence| Food Security| Gender Based Violence| Genocide| Gross Violations of Human Rights| Health Care Availability| Health Insurance| Housing| Human Trafficking| Internal Relocation| Language| LGBTI| Mental Health Services| Organised Crime| Opposition Politics| Policing| Political Violence| Prison Conditions| Refugees| Risks on Return| Sexual Violence| Social Groups| State Security Forces| State-Sponsored Violence| Sufficiency of Protection| Torture| Witchcraft| Witness Protection|
She is also available for document authentication, in-country document certification, in-country document retrieval, and other in-country enquiries on behalf of the court/tribunal.
Her research to date has received regional, national and international media attention. Multiple live television and radio interviews have been undertaken with Sky news; France 24; TVR; South Africa Broadcasting Corporation; Chinese television; Australian television; Euronews; Channel 4; British Forces Radio; Russian Television, BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, and BBC Radio Scotland. Research has been featured in newspaper articles around the globe, including in the UK, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the USA.
Email: judirever@gmail.com
Judi Rever is a Montreal-based freelance journalist, formerly with Agence France-Presse and Radio France Internationale. She has reported from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and conducted research into the disappearance, kidnapping and killing of Rwandan refugees and dissidents abroad. She is the author of the book, In Praise of Blood, the Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.
Email: lyoung@prorightsconsulting.com
Laura is a US-trained human rights lawyer based in Nairobi, Kenya who works across sub-Saharan Africa as a consultant on governance and human rights for USAID, the UN, governments, and international NGOs. Laura has published numerous articles and reports focused on conflict dynamics, gender, minority rights, transitional justice, migration, health, and other human rights issues in the African context. Laura has provided expert input for immigration and asylum cases in both the US and UK, focused on LGBT, FGM/C, domestic violence, trafficking, access to health services (including mental health and HIV), ex-combatants, ethnic minorities, disability access, police protection, and other key issues.
Email: nasongos@rhodes.edu
Prof. Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o holds a BA and an MA from the University of Nairobi, Kenya and obtained his PhD from Northeastern University, Boston, with his dissertation entitled “Contending Political Paradigms in Africa: Democratization vs. Authoritarianism in Kenya and Zambia.” He is currently a Professor of International Studies at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee. He previously held posts at the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He has also published extensively on Africa, with topics ranging from the gendered aspects of African political spaces to the roots of ethnic conflict on the continent. His current research focuses on post-genocide reconstruction in Rwanda, protracted identity conflicts in Eastern Africa, governance and development in Kenya, and the nature of political actors in the Kenyan public space.
Email: jsz358@hum.ku.dk
Email: will.jones@rhul.ac.uk
Will Jones is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London. His geographic research expertise is Central Africa (particularly Rwanda) and has also conducted research on Zimbabwean refugees.
Available in English – Francais – Kinyarwanda
You can subscribe to their news updates on the main page of the web which provide insights into current affairs in Rwanda which is difficult to find in mainstream media elsewhere. Rwandinfo is a tribune where all people interested in the history and the development of Rwanda can find and share information on Rwanda. This is a place where you can find information which can help people to a better understanding of what happened and is happening in Rwanda.
COI Resources
The following sections contain documents that can be consulted when looking for country of origin information.
This COI compilation is intended as background reference material for legal representatives and those assisting asylum seekers who are informed of the Home Office’s intention to relocate them to Rwanda, to assist in the preparation of their case. The COI compilation should be used as a tool to help identify relevant COI. Legal representatives are welcome to submit relevant excerpts cited in this document to decision makers (including judges) to assist an asylum seeker’s case. However, this document should not be submitted directly, in its entirety or in isolation as evidence to decision-makers in asylum related submissions or appeals.
Click here to see Human Rights Report on the aftermath and justices after the Rwandan Genocide 20 years later.
‘Rwanda signed an agreement with the UK for the relocation of asylum seekers. Paul Rusesabagina continued to be denied a fair trial. Draft legislation to give access to contraceptives for people over 15 was rejected. Women’s dress and right to privacy were policed. Teachers’ salaries were increased but students’ living allowances were not. Bloggers and journalists continued to be harassed, intimidated, persecuted and unlawfully detained by the authorities. No information was provided on Innocent Bahati’s fate and whereabouts. Two people were killed in an armed attack on a bus. Trials against alleged perpetrators of the 1994 genocide continued.’
Rwanda Legal Assistance
Find organisations offering legal and other types of assistance to refugees in Rwanda.
Rwanda LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Rwanda.
We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant experts, or you are aware of organisations and/or resources to include in our directories, please get in touch.
Last updated June 2023