Rwanda genocide death sentences

Many perpetrators of genocide are still to be tried

By Helen Vesperini in Kigali

The trial of 17 genocide suspects in the Rwandan province of Gikongoro has ended.

This type of group trial is one of several initiatives by the Rwandan Government to speed up justice for genocide suspects.

Five of the 17 people tried were sentenced to death for genocide and crimes against humanity.

A further seven were given life in prison, and two were acquitted.

The remaining three received sentences of seven years.

Confession

Legal sources in Gikongoro said one of those who had got seven years had his sentence reduced from 12 years initially because he confessed to his crimes.

The government attaches great importance to confession in an attempt to heal the scars left by the genocide.

Some two million people fled the genocide

Rwanda has so far tried more than 3,000 genocide suspects, and sentenced more than 500 of them to death.

But well over 100,000 are still crammed into the country's prisons awaiting trial.

The problem of the backlog of cases is worsened by the fact that most of the country's judges perished in the genocide.

People calculate that if trials continue at the current rate, tens of thousands of genocide suspects will die in prison before their cases are heard.

Gacaca courts

In an attempt to speed things up, the Rwandan authorities are introducing a system of community justice called "gacaca courts", where judges appointed at community level are given summary training.

Suspects are brought before villages, and local people either acquit or condemn their neighbours.

The gacaca courts will start functioning next year.