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Children in detention

    NAIROBI

    Some 4,553 minors aged between 14 and 18 years at the time of their arrest on genocide-related charges remained under detention in Rwanda, according to the latest available figures provided by UNICEF. About 200 children who were below the age of criminal responsibility at the time of their arrest were still detained, while 204 children were receiving vocational training and other services at the Gitagata Reeducation Centre. In addition, some 285 infants and young children were in prison with their detained mothers, UNICEF said, citing January figures.

    During 1998, a total of 183 young children detained with their mothers were reunified with other family members, while 163 minors below the age of criminal responsibility were reintegrated with their families after completing a reeducation programme at the Gitagata centre, UNICEF said. Another 345 minors detained without judiciary files were released and reintegrated within their community during the year. At the end of January, Rwanda’s prisons and other detention facilities held 124,198 people, according to ICRC figures reported by OCHA-Kigali.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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