Rwanda starts prisoner releases

The sick and elderly were released first

Rwanda's authorities have begun releasing more than 36,000 genocide suspects from its overcrowded jails.

The elderly and infirm were the first to be freed - some on stretchers, others hobbling with walking sticks.

Most have confessed to involvement in the 1994 genocide, in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

Those being freed are not accused of the most serious crimes but similar previous releases have been criticised by genocide survivors.

Dazed

"To me this is a miracle from God," Mariana Kakuze, 78, said, as she left a prison in the capital, Kigali.

"I had lost hope of leaving this prison," she told Reuters news agency after spending 10 years in custody accused of killing two Tutsi neighbours.

The BBC's Rob Walker in Kigali says the prisoners' names were called out one by one.

Then they took off their bright pink prison uniforms and emerged into the daylight in civilian clothes, with their heads shaved.

They came out through a small door set into the high prison walls.

Some of them were smiling, shaking hands with prison guards; others looked dazed simply to be outside again after 10 years cramped inside.

Solidarity camps

Some of those being freed have already served the equivalent of a maximum sentence for their alleged crimes, even though they have not faced trial.

Some prisoners have been held for 10 years without trial

But some of the released prisoners could be returned to jail.

The information ministry said in a statement that their release was provisional, and depended on the outcome of their cases.

They may also face justice at local village "Gacaca" courts.

Our correspondent says police were waiting for the prisoners to escort them to special "solidarity" camps, where they will spend six weeks to help with their integration back into the community.

Face to face

The releases are set to continue countrywide over the next few days.

The 36,000 is about half of the total number of genocide suspects still in prison.

Many have now spent more than a decade in detention without trial.

Our correspondent says the most difficult stage of this process will come when those who have confessed to killings will come face-to-face with the relatives of their victims.