91997E2662

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2662/97 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (1 September 1997)

Subject: Children and teenagers accused of war crimes in Rwanda

UNICEF, the United Nations' Children's Fund, has estimated that 2 300 of the 100 000 imprisoned and awaiting trial for suspected war crimes in Rwanda are children or teenagers. About 200 of these are believed to have been under 14 at the time of the genocidal killings in 1994. Many regard their conditions in jail as intolerable.

Because the Rwandan courts and legal services are overburdened, UNICEF has emphasized the need for the international community to provide lawyers to Rwanda who can work on cases involving children and teenagers.

Has the Commission any proposals for providing financial assistance to lawyers working with children and teenagers in Rwanda?

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (30 October 1997)

The Commission is aware that many people are waiting in prisons for their trials. The latest estimates give a total figure of nearly 130 000 persons including some children and teenagers.

The Commission has brought the situation of child prisoners suspected of genocide again to the attention of the Rwandan authorities by a Troika demarche on prison conditions on 4 September 1997.

The Commission, concerned by the prison conditions and anxious to see the genocide trials proceed speedily and in a correct legal framework, is offering assistance to the government in respect of genocide trials through the financing of two projects from the democracy - human rights budget line with another project under preparation.

The first project entitled 'Programme d'appui au Ministère de la Justice rwandaise' for an amount of nearly 1.4 MECU ensures the training and salary payment of 600 additional judicial staff over an 18 month period in order to assist the judicial system.

The second project is a contribution to the efforts by 'Avocats sans frontières' to provide legal assistance to both the accused as well as civil parties in genocide trials. This assistance will continue and amounts to over 1.2 MECU.

A project with Penal reform international is under preparation (1.25 MECU) to assist with the improvement of the management capacities of the prison administration and to launch productive activities inside the prisons.

Furthermore the 2nd rehabilitation programme of the European development fund (EDF) foresees the financing of the rehabilitation of the supreme court as well as the public prosecutor's offices. Additional support is provided for the rehabilitation of the 143 district courts. Total EDF assistance from the 2nd rehabilitation programme to the judiciary amounts to 4.9 MECU.

With the above mentioned programmes the Commission contributes to the improvement of both prison conditions and legal defence, which is in the interest of all prisoners, including minors.