About 2,000 prisoners have confessed to taking part in the Hutu-orchestrated slaughter of more than 500,000 people, in an attempt to avoid being executed, the Justice Ministry said Friday.
“Some of them are tired of being in prison,” Justice Secretary General Gerard Gahima said. “Others know the possibility of being brought to justice is real. They saw the confessions to be in their best interest.”
On April 24, firing squads executed 22 Rwandans, among the first convicted of genocide in the 1994 slaughter of mostly minority Tutsis. At least 330 people have been tried, and 90 have been sentenced to death. About 125,000 people are awaiting trial.
Under Rwandan law, defendants who confess are eligible for reduced sentences, such as life in prison rather than execution. But that applies only to those who followed orders to kill. Genocide organizers face the death penalty even if they confess. Those who have confessed have done so since the April executions, and Gahima said their sentences would be reduced.
