HRW comdemns Rwandan centers

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said detainees were kept in 28 centers for periods lasting from a few days up to several months, without charge.

Beatings were commonplace. Several detainees had died during or just after their detention in a "transit center" at Rubavu in Rwanda's Western Province, said HRW.

It alleged that Rwandan police and military personnel arrested poor people such as beggars, sex workers, vendors and street children as part of an unofficial government practice to remove "undesirables" from the streets of Kigali, the Rwandan capital.

Waiting for government probe

Rwandan Justice Minister Johnson Busingye was quoted by HRW as saying the matter would be investigated. No probe had eventuated, HRW added.

Despite them being described as "transit centers" or "rehabilitation centers," few inmates received any kind of training or educational opportunities, said the human rights organization.

Inmates were not transferred anywhere, but were simply released.

"The arbitrary arrest of poor people is part of an unofficial government practice to hide 'undesirable' people from view," HRW concluded.

ipj/kl (dpa, AP)