Former genocide suspects join community work in Rwanda
KIGALI, Sept.
22 (Xinhua) -- Over 1,000 former inmates
jailed for participating in Rwanda's 1994 genocide began community work
mainly constructing houses for survivors, an official said in the central
African country's capital Kigali Thursday.
"The country will benefit from the community
service and the entire population will gain," Johnson Busingye,
secretary-general of the justice ministry said.
"Ex-prisoners are expected to build schools,
hospitals roads and many other for the benefit of the community as they do
away their sentence," he added.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2003
ordered the release of detainees who had already served time equal to the
sentences they would receive if convicted.
More than 22,000 were released that year,
and another 4,500 common law prisoners were freed in 2004.
Traditional courts known as gacaca were
established to speed up the trial of thousands of genocide suspects in
Rwanda's overcrowded prisons.
In July, a provisional mandate of releasing
36,000 inmates came up, but the survivors of the 1994 genocide did not welcome
the decision.
Shortly after their release, they were sent
for a one-month of training at solidarity camps, where they learn about
Rwandan history, reconciliation and justice.