President raises concerns about detention without trial of 100,000 prisoners

THE President, Mrs Robinson, has raised her "special concern" about the continuing detention without trial of 100,000 prisoners in Rwandan jails with the authorities here.

Speaking on the last day of her visit, Mrs Robinson said she had relayed the Government's concern about delays in dispensing justice to those prisoners suspected of involvement in the genocide in 1994.

However, she called on the international community to "throw its weight" behind moves to speed up the judicial process. "This is a huge problem, one that Rwanda can't cope with on its own. The numbers are very large, so there should be support for measures to process cases more quickly."

As UN officials told the President that it would take 200 years to try the 100,000 prisoners at the current rate, Mrs Robinson said she would back plans for the early release of prisoners accused of less serious crimes.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Joan Burton later said she had received assurances from the Rwandan government that up to 20,000 prisoners could have their eases processed within the next six months.

She also said that the Rwandan vice president, Mr Paul Kagame, had given her "absolute assurances that the Hutu refugees who are currently fleeing the fighting in eastern Zaire would be welcomed back to Rwanda and given assistance to return.

Mrs Robinson said Ireland and other countries had a human rights and moral obligation to do whatever possible to help the refugees return to Rwanda if they wished.

UN officials briefed the President on the situation in the country since the increase in killings in January, when over 400 people, including six expatriates, were murdered. According to Mr Mark Frohardt of the UN's human rights mission, the security situation has improved slightly since. Human rights monitors who had withdrawn to Kigali after the killings were now starting to return to the field, he said.

Earlier in the morning, Mrs Robinson paid a visit to ProFemmes, an umbrella group of women's organisations which has been funded by Irish Aid.

The President presented the group with a cheque for £1,500 donated by the Gaelscoil Chill Mhantain in Wicklow town. Like Pro Femmes, this multi denominational gaelscoil was, she said, involved in reconciliation, in this case between Catholics and Protestants.

One of the women told Mrs Robinson that her association for widows and orphans would shortly be receiving 70 cows which were donated by Bothar. She asked for help to provide training in artificial insemination.

The President also hosted a reception for the Irish community in Rwanda before leaving Kigali yesterday evening. She is scheduled to return to Dublin this morning.

Asked about continuing speculation linking her to the vacant post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Robinson declined to comment.

She said she was giving the possibility of standing for a second term as President serious thought but hadn't yet made up her mind. "I hope to do so by the end of March," The said.

Reuter adds from Geneva. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said yesterday it had lost trace of more than 170,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees in the heart of the jungle in east Zaire following the rebel seizure of camps in Tingi Tingi area.

Spokesman Mr Kris Janowski said UNHCR was trying to verify unconfirmed reports from an overflight that the refugees had left Tingi Tingi in the Lubutu area, 200 km south east of Kisangani.

"The information from the overflight seems to be that Tingi Tingi is now virtually empty," he said.

Rebel leader, Mr Laurent Kabila, whose forces control most of the east after launching a war in October to oust President Mobutu Sese Seko, said his men captured Lubutu at the weekend.

Mr Janowski said UNHCR did not know where the refugees were. It was considering approaching Tingi Tingi from the rebel controlled east but needed security guarantees to be able to do so.

The refugees include members of Hutu militia and the former Rwandan government army responsible for the 1994 Rwanda genocide of more than half a million Tutsis and Hutu moderates.