Government orders release of women and girls jailed over abortion

Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame has ordered the release hundreds of girls and women jailed for abortion in the East African Country.

Ordering their release last week, President Kagame noted in a statement that the move was within the powers bestowed on him as President of Rwanda.

“Pursuant to the powers conferred upon him by the laws … the president of the Republic informed the cabinet meeting that he has exercised his prerogative of mercy and pardoned 367 persons convicted for the offenses of abortion, complicity in abortion and infanticide,” read a statement published after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when the decision was approved.

The move was welcomed by women’s rights activists in the country, who hailed the President for what they termed a step towards realization of sexual and reproductive health of women and girls in Rwanda.

Athanase Rukundo, director of programmes at Health Development Initiative said: “We are very pleased by the decision taken by the president, Paul Kagame, as it reflects the rights and freedoms of women and girls enshrined under the constitution of Rwanda, regional and international human rights instruments, and particularly the Maputo protocol. It is a positive step, taken to realize the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls in Rwanda.”

“Rwanda is responding to the public health and human rights crisis that is created as a result of criminalizing access to abortion. Of course, those people never should have been the target of criminal proceedings in the first place, and much more must be done to ensure the bodily integrity and human rights of women,” the officer said.

In August last year, Rwanda reviewed its penal code on abortion, which criminalized abortion.

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In the new law, abortion is allowed in cases of rape, forced marriage, incest, or instances where the pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother or fetus.

However, the new regulations require that the procedure is carried out after consultation with a doctor.

A survey published by the Guttmacher Institute in the year 2013 indicated that over 60,000 women and girls procure abortion annually.

The study categorized most of the abortions as unsafe.

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The survey also found out that an estimated 22% of all unintended pregnancies end in abortions, while 63% result in unplanned births and 15% end in miscarriage.

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