Arusha, December 13th, 2004 (FH) - Juvenal Kajelijeli, the former Mayor of Mukingo (Ruhengeri, Northern Rwanda), Monday raised the issue of conjugal visits for people detained by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

He was appearing before Appeals Chamber judge Florence Mumba (Zambia) to review the prisoner’s health and detention conditions.

Kajelijeli said that by disallowing the "visits", the United Nations standards for prisoners “were not being adequately observed” at the UN detention facilities in Arusha, and that it amounted to “discrimination against black prisoners”.

Though the former mayor did not explicitly mention what kind of visits he was referring to, it was clear that it was the issue of conjugal visits which the Registrar of the tribunal, Adama Dieng, turned down in the past.

His reasons to deny the prisoners’ demands for conjugal visits with their spouses were that it was against African culture and norms.Such visits are said to be allowed at the sister UN Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Kajelijeli was on December 1, 2003 sentenced to life in prison when he was found guilty of genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide crimes against humanity (extermination). He has appealed the sentence.

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