Commission finds pretrial and post-sentence injustices

AllAfrica reports that the head of the Rwanda National Commission on Human Rights, Madeleine Nirere, presented a report to Parliament which showed 88 people still in prison after completion of their sentence, and a further 88 held for more than two years without appearing in court. In addition

As at 30 June 2012, there were 386 prisoners who did not have any case files asscoaited with their case, while Gacaca courts tried 610 prisoners in absentia.

The commission also revealed that 71 prisoners' trials were postponed indefinitely, 121 prisoners have sentenced like adults yet they committed the crimes while still minor and 129 were sentenced to public service work but their sentence was never executed.

All these observations raised questions among lawmakers, who said prisoners are also human and should be treated with respect and be guaranteed their rights. "I had never imagined that our prisoners are still experiencing such issues," said an MP after the commission's head Madeleine Nirere presented the report.