The Rwandan government and local nongovernmental organizations have publicly urged communities to forgive the teenagers, even as Rwanda prepares for trials later this year of about 120,000 adults accused of mass murder. Some of the adults are said to have ordered children to kill other children. Under Rwanda's penal code, children under 14 are not responsible for acts they commit. Poverty, high unemployment, disease, and a rise in AIDS cases have taken a toll on Rwandan society. Now many of these youthful genocidaires are coming home to find parents dead or missing.
Jobs are scarce.
After so many years in prison, returning to school has proved difficult. Many have joined the growing ranks of Rwandan street children, aid workers said. Today, they are around 19 years old. During the 100 days of carnage in 1994, when an estimated six people per minute died, children were used as spies to infiltrate homes and report on where Tutsis were hiding. Hutu extremists ordered others to kill their friends to prove that they they were not Tutsis.