afrol News, 25 July - Deaths of detainees in the hands of national police officers of Rwanda have now become norm, a new report released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch has unearthed. From November 2006 to date, at least 20 such killings have taken place in the east African country.

Suspecting that some of the police killings appear to be extra-judicial executions, the rights watchdog asked for prompt investigations by an independent and impartial board of inquiry to take place.

"Rwanda says it is striving to establish a state of law," Alison Des
Forges, Senior Adviser to Human Rights Watch's Africa Division, held. "Killing detainees is not the way to do it. The Rwandan National Police must
ensure that the killings end."

The 37-page report, entitled "There Will Be No Trial: Police Killings of
Detainees and the Imposition of Collective Punishment," is premised on
dozens of interviews with families of victims, eyewitnesses and others.

It was found that many of the 20 detainees killed have been accused crimes related to genocide survivors or other persons involved in the local gacaca process set up to deliver justice for the genocide. Other executed prisoners had been accused of murder, rape or theft.

Besides, the report was published with a statement by the police admitting that the 20 detainees were shot in custody. Dispatched to the Human Rights Watch by the Commissioner General of the Rwandan National Police, Andrew Rwigamba, the statement revealed that in all cases, the detainees were shot for two reasons: attempting to escape to trying to disarm officers, presumably in attempts to escape.

However, HRW gathered evidence that contradicted this scenario in some cases.

The police say that the deaths are being investigated. But they have not given further details of the investigations, who is carrying them out, or when they expect to complete them. They have also not given assurance that the results of the investigations will be made public.

The police and local officials unleashed collective punishments - fines, required labour, and even beatings on persons who lived near places where survivors had suffered property loss or damage after the announcement of new measures to protect survivors, HWR alleged.

Ironically, punished persons had not been tried and convicted of responsibility for the alleged crimes.

"The idea of innocent until proven guilty is fundamental to the legitimacy
of a judicial system,” Des Forges maintained. "It is guaranteed by international
law and the Rwandan constitution, and it must be implemented in Rwanda."

The police killings have come at a time when Rwanda is moving fast to repeal the death sentence. President Paul Kagame is expected to append his signature on the repeal law on 31 July 2007. The repeal was among a key demand advanced by the Arusha genocide tribunal before it hands over Rwandan genocide suspects after its term expires next year.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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