Covering events from January - December 2000 SURINAME Republic of Suriname Head of state: Ronald Venetiaan (replaced Jules Wijdenbosch in August) Head of government: Jules Ajodhia Capital: Paramaribo Population: 0.4 million Official Language: Dutch Death penalty: abolitionist in practice Impunity for human rights abuses committed under previous regimes was a major issue for the newly elected government. Conditions in prisons and police detention centres remained poor. Reports of ill-treatment and torture of prisoners continued. Background President Ronald Venetiaan took power on 18 August, having won general elections in May at the head of a four-party New Front coalition composed of political groups that were deposed by coups in 1980 and 1990. President Venetiaan had previously held power in 1995 and 1996. He took over from Jules Wijdenbosch of the National Democratic Party. Impunity There was little or no action until the change of government to bring to justice those responsible for human rights abuses committed under previous governments. These include a 1986 massacre of civilians at the village of Moiwana, the beating of a prisoner to death by prison guards in 1993, and the so- called ''December murders'' of 1982. ● In 1982,15 journalists, academics and labour leaders were extrajudicially executed at Fort Zeelandia, an army centre near the Surinamese Cabinet Office, in Paramaribo. On 31 October 2000, after the change of government, the Court of Justice ordered the prosecution of former military leader Desi Bouterse and others in connection with these killings. Dozens of witnesses, including politicians, were questioned by the Public Prosecutor's Office. However, under the country's 18-year statute of limitations, legal proceedings should have been concluded by 8 December 2000. At the end of the year, the Public Prosecutor's Office was working on a summons to start a preliminary judicial investigation. Desi Bouterse denied charges that he presided over the murders, saying that he took responsibility only because he was head of government and the military at the time. Conditions in prisons and detention centres Prison conditions were extremely harsh and severely overcrowded, amounting sometimes to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Conditions of hygiene and ventilation were poor, with food, blankets, cleaning equipment, soap and medicines in short supply. Medical care was inadequate. Most prisoners could not afford their own lawyer, and state-funded advisers were scarce. Pre-trial detainees constituted a large percentage of inmates, many of whom were held in overcrowded detention cells at local police stations. Police officers who had not been trained in prison work served as jailers in local detention centres. Beatings of detainees and prisoners were also reported. Ill-treatment Human rights groups continued to express concern about ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. They documented cases of police ill-treating detainees, particularly during arrests, and abuses of prisoners by guards. .