Rights group questions wisdom of mass releases of prisoners

A rights advocacy group has said the government's release of up to 40,000 prisoners this month could wreak "potential havoc" in the administration of genocide justice.

A statement released on Thursday by African Rights said the "provisional liberty" being offered to the detainees would be likely to worry genocide survivors, who would fear that suspects might thereby gain the opportunity to attack their accusers, or evade justice through bribery or exile.

As the Gacaca village "courts" began their work, they would face additional and unforeseen problems, said African Rights. Having released thousands of prisoners, the state would no longer be able to guarantee their presence at the "trials", and witnesses would be more vulnerable to intimidation from the accused. "Crucially, we believe the releases will undermine popular confidence in the process - the very factor upon which, our findings show, the success of Gacaca depends."

The independence of judges would also be threatened. "Whatever the arguments to the contrary, in reality it will be extremely difficult for these judges to send back to prison thousands of detainees whom the state has already taken the decision to free, especially in a country where respect for authority is deeply ingrained." Moreover, inmates might make false or partial confessions in order to gain their release.

Those who had confessed to their crimes (but not including ringleaders) during the 1994 genocide, minors aged between 14 and 18 at the time of their alleged crimes, elderly prisoners, sick prisoners and those accused of ordinary crimes would be included in the releases, the government announced on 1 January. The measure also applied to those who "run the risk of being imprisoned for longer than provided for under the law".