Up to 40,000 detainees to be granted provisional liberty

The Rwandan government is to grant provisional liberty within a month to between 30,000 and 40,000 prison detainees, including those involved in the 1994 genocide, news agencies have reported.

President Paul Kagame had instructed the relevant judicial authorities to free all detainees who ran the risk of being imprisoned for longer than provided for under the law, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported on Monday. The detainees included people who had confessed to crimes of genocide, but had not been involved in planning or instigating it (classified as Category 1 suspects), those who were minors when they committed the acts of genocide, and also people accused of ordinary crimes.

"The release of these detainees is without prejudice to the continuation of criminal proceedings against them," RNA said, citing a government communique. The communique also reiterated the government's decision to release elderly and very sick detainees.

"This is not an amnesty, because these people will be tried while they are free," AFP quoted Rwandan Justice Minister Jean de Dieu Mucyo as saying.

There are an estimated 115,000 detainees accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwandan prisons, the Hirondelle News Agency reported. Many thousands of the detainees have not been charged with specific crimes, despite having spent up to eight years in prison. Their number has placed a severe strain on the criminal justice system, which, the Rwandan government has said, was already "crippled" by poor infrastructure and the deaths of professionals during the genocide.