Jan. 4
RWANDA:
Kagame Urged to End Death Penalty
HUMAN-RIGHTS groups and other non-government organisations in Rwanda have
appealed to President Paul Kagame's to abolish capital punishment, a move
they believe will improve the country's image abroad and promote
forgiveness and reconciliation at home.
"If capital punishment is abolished, Rwanda's credibility will not only
improve in the eyes of the international community but the families of
prisoners condemned to death will appreciate the government gesture and it
will build national reconciliation and promote a culture of forgiveness
among communities in the country," said Andre Gakwaya of Grands Lacs
Hebdo, a journal and human-rights organisation. "Death is not a deterrent
to violent crime."
Mr Gakwaya, who was formerly with the Rwanda Human Rights Commission, was
speaking during an inter-regional meeting on peace building in the Great
Lakes region held in Tanzania from December 13-15, which brought together
over 80 media people and civil society organisation representatives from
Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and
Zambia.
An estimated 10,000 prisoners in Rwanda have so far been condemned to
death for participating in the 1994 genocide.
However, the Rwandan government says it can only abolish the death penalty
if the people so decide through a referendum.
Mr Gakwaya said that NGOs dealing with human-rights issues are lobbying
the government and have began sensitising the public through workshops,
conferences, meetings and the media so that by the time the referendum is
held, they can make the right decision.
"Sensitisation has created 2 sets of people: those against its abolition -
who say that those who killed during the genocide should also suffer
death; and those who believe that the abolition of capital punishment will
create reconciliation and promote forgiveness among the people," said Mr
Gakwaya.
However, analysts say if the law is abolished, the Tutsis will perceive
that there is no justice and could seek revenge on the Hutus living in
Rwanda and those returning home. They say that this will perpetuate new
cycles of violence. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were
killed by extremist Hutu militias during the 100-day genocide.
Mr Gakwaya said when at the commission, he approached the Inspector
General of Government, Ombudsman Tito Rutaremara, who said the law could
only be reversed by the people through a referendum.
Two years after the genocide in September 1996, Rwanda's parliament
approved a law designed to expedite the trials of thousands held in
prisons and to encourage Hutu refugees to return home. The legislation
covers crimes committed during the 1990-1994 period.
The government is using Gacaca courts - an alternative participatory
justice system involving the community - which started operating in 2002
to try thousands of genocide suspects.
But such courts cannot pass the death penalty. Defendants who were aged 14
to 18 at the time of committing their crimes receive sentences half those
for adults, while minors aged under 14 are usually set free.
The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that some 89,000
prisoners are still crowded into the jails of Rwanda. Up to 23,000 were
released last year.
An official from one of the human-rights civil society organisations that
attended the meeting in Tanzania, said those found guilty of genocide
crimes should not be condemned to death. They should get long prison terms
instead.
He said the death penalty creates an imbalance between Rwanda prisons and
the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR), whose maximum
sentence is imprisonment. The tribunal handles cases of a more serious
nature in the perpetration of the genocide
(source: The East African)
