Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Rwanda (Ratification: 1988)

Article 2 of the Convention. Right of workers, without distinction whatsoever, to establish organizations of their own choosing. Civil servants. In its previous comment, the Committee observed that, according to the general statute governing public servants (Law No. 017/2020): (i) a public servant may establish or join a trade union of his or her choice in accordance with the relevant legislation (section 49 of the Law ); (ii) a public institution may request to be governed by a special statute, established by a Prime Minister’s Order (section 3 and 4 of the Law), and (iii) while the special statute is limited to certain modalities laid out in section 4, the competent authorities may allow these modalities to include any other additional element, except for the salary and benefits. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, the adoption of special statutes for specific categories of public servants is intended to meet the needs of civil servants who require special treatment given the nature of their institutional mandate but does not deprive them of their fundamental rights protected by the Constitution. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether special statutes have been established for any specific category of public servants and to provide a copy thereof.

Time limits for registration. In its previous comment, the Committee considered that, even though Ministerial Order No. 02/MIFOTRA/22 had reduced the time limit for processing applications for registration of a trade union or an employers’ organization from 90 days to 60 days, this still represented a lengthy registration procedure likely to constitute a serious obstacle to the establishment of organizations without prior authorization, as set forth under Article 2 of the Convention. While noting the Government’s indication that registration is not a precondition to the establishment of a workers’ or an employers’ organization, the Committee once again requests the Government to consider revising Ministerial Order No. 02/MIFOTRA/22 of August 2022 with a view to further reducing the registration period and to provide information on all developments in this regard.

Article 3. Right to elect representatives freely. The Committee recalls that it requested the Government to amend section 3(5) of Ministerial Order No. 11 of September 2010, according to which, an occupational organization of employers or workers, in order to be registered, has to be able to prove that its representatives have never been convicted of offences with sentences of imprisonment equal to or over six months. The Committee notes that the Government once again reiterates that a person who leads others is required to prove his or her integrity and that a person who committed a crime punishable for at least six months is no longer a person with integrity. The Committee recalls that the conviction for an act which, by its nature, does not call into question the integrity of the person and implies no real risk for the performance of trade union duties should not constitute grounds for exclusion from trade union office. The Committee therefore expects the Government to take the necessary measures, in consultation with the social partners, to amend section 3(5) of Ministerial Order No. 11, in line with the above.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.