Sierra Leoneans jailed in Rwanda could be paroled

Sierra Leonean war crimes convicts serving their sentences in Mpanga Prison may be eligible for parole if the amendments of the agreement on their transfer to Rwanda are adopted by Parliament.The Minister for Justice, Johnston Busingye, on Monday tabled before Parliament proposed amendments for the agreement between the government and the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).The agreement sets the conditions under which eight convicts at Mpanga Prison in Southern Province are to be incarcerated.They were all convicted by the SCSL.“The previous agreement did not provide for eligibility for parole and what happens in case a convict violated parole conditions,” Busingye said.According to Busingye, the convicts are eligible for early or conditional release upon serving two-thirds of their respective sentence. He said they would be required to stay in Rwanda during their parole period, until their full sentence is completed.The SCSL was set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the UN to prosecute people bearing the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Sierra Leone after November 30, 1996, and during the Sierra Leone civil war.A March 18, 2009 agreement was signed between the Government of Rwanda and the SCSL to regulate matters relating to or arising out of requests for the former to enforce sentences imposed by the court.The agreement was followed by the transfer of the eight in October 2009 to Rwanda where they are serving sentences ranging from 15 to 22 years for war crimes.The convicts include both rebel and pro-government militia fighters from the 1991-2002 war.They include Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris Kallon, and Augustine Gbao, the most senior surviving commanders of the RUF, whose uprising reportedly triggered the war that killed more than 50,000 people.After the presentation of the amendments by the minister, the legislators responded with a unanimous support and forwarded them to the responsible committee for further scrutiny.Footing the billMinister Busingye could not readily provide figures but he told this paper that the Government of Rwanda voluntarily foots the biggest chunk of the costs involved in having the convicts serve their sentence in the country.“The UN system foots part of the bill but when a country volunteers for such an international obligation, like when we agree to have these convicts, there is a huge chunk of the bill that we have accepted to foot,” Busingye after his appearance before Parliament.Part of the amended agreement indicates that the court shall bear expenses, among others, related to the transfer of the convicted person to and from Rwanda, at the beginning and at the end of the sentence, including the temporary transfer to and from the court for the purposes of appearing in a court proceeding.The court also foots expenses in case of death in addition to upkeep and maintenance costs (meals, sanitation and communications) and incidentals and special medical care which may entail extraordinary costs.The costs met by Rwanda include safety and security of the quarters for the convicts; prison wardens’ remuneration and basic utilities.

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Sierra Leoneans jailed in Rwanda could be paroled