Rwandese Maths and Estimates
To kill 1 million, 2 might have taken part !!!
Rwanda frees genocide inmates as jails overflow (January 14, 2003)
Johannesburg: Rwanda has released the first of about 40,000 genocide suspects to be
freed because its prisons cannot cope with thousands of inmates blamed for the
slaughter of almost a million people, the Justice Minister says.
Jean de Dieu Mucyo told state radio on Sunday that all those to be released in the next
two weeks could still face trial for their part in the tribal massacres of 1994.
Mr Mucyo said the "carefully planned" release of genocide suspects was necessary
because of the shortage of prison space in Rwanda. There were 120,000 people awaiting
trial for their part in the genocide, placing an "intolerable burden" on the prison system
Those released in the first batch of about 2000 prisoners were seriously ill, over 70 or
were under 18 when their offences were committed, he said.
"Many of them have already served prison terms that they would have received had they been brought to trial," he said.
The mass release is causing deep unease in the former Belgian colony. "Do you expect
me to live in peace when I will be forced to see on a daily basis someone who killed my
parents?" asked Uwera Immaculate, a Tutsi student in Kigali, the capital.
Rwanda's Prosecutor-General, Gerald Gahima, said the move was necessary for logistical
reasons. "We estimate that if a million people died, another million or 2 million people
had a role in what happened. It would be impossible to try and punish all these people."
Taken from rwanda.net, no mention of a press agency or another source, Jan 16, 03.
