Carnegie Mellon University proudly announced its partnership with the Rwandan government to open the first American graduate program in Rwanda Sept. 16. Even as Rwandan President Paul Kagame was delivering his keynote address to CMU students in Pittsburgh, news of the partnership was raising concerns among human rights advocates in the United States.
CMU in Rwanda, slated to commence its academic operations in August 2012, will offer a master of science degree in information technology in its first year and will later add a master of science degree in electrical and computer engineering. According to its website, the program hopes to have an initial class of 40 students, with classes of 150 students within five years. The University will work with government ministries to develop a program and research center that support the government's Nation Information and Communication Infrastructure Plan and National Skills Development Program. Carnegie Mellon will maintain "complete academic autonomy" and "full operational control of the establishment."
The training and degrees offered by CMU in Rwanda are consistent with the goals of the government. Rwanda has seen impressive stabilization and economic growth in the last decade, and was acknowledged as East Africa's leader in information and communications technology by the United Nations in 2007. Development of this technology is a priority for economic growth, efficiency and improved access to information.
Despite Rwanda's recent growth, and positive donor sentiment, the government's concerning human rights record cannot be ignored. The 2011 Human Rights Watch World Report on Rwanda cites "numerous violations of civil and political rights" under the current government, identifying attacks on opposition, media repression, "heavy-handed" Gacaca trial outcomes and involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo among the most serious concerns.
The Rwandan government's complicity in human rights violations has been overlooked amid waves of praise of the country's development, and we agree with the claims of groups like the African Great Lakes Coalition that the partnership between Carnegie Mellon and the Rwandan government could risk legitimizing questionable tactics and burying criticism of its leaders.
Love or hate Kagame, this particular partnership could hold promise for Rwanda's future. It seems unlikely that the solution to human rights concerns lies in the exclusion of Rwandans from an education in technology and communications — an education that could strengthen infrastructure and development, increase access to information and ideas and, ultimately, increase transparency. As Kagame himself wrote in 2009, "The power in information technologies is that there are fewer excuses for nations to exclude themselves from these powerful networks and to mire their citizens in poverty."
We hope the CMU program in Rwanda will increase scrutiny and raise the bar for standards of accountability of the Rwandan government. Recent protests and debate suggest that it already has.
We have confidence in the integrity of Carnegie Mellon and its ability to recognize the impact of its work with the Rwandan government and to step back and acknowledge concerns if and when they arise. We also hope that CMU in Rwanda will be successful in offering high-quality graduate education to its students, with positive implications for communications and technology development in the nation as a whole, and that cross-cultural interactions will benefit the understandings of all involved.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
