The Special Rapporteur held a closed door meeting with the Committee Members of the Derg officials in the Alem bekagn section of the Addis Ababa Prison, and another meeting with all the officials in the Kaliti prison. They complain that their trial has been unduly prolonged and say this prolongation is a deliberate attempt by the government to punish them unnecessarily because, they argue, the government has no case against them. They note that justice delayed is justice denied. They also claim that by charging them with genocide, the government is merely trying to victimise them for political reasons. They argue that there has never been any genocide in Ethiopia in terms of the UN Genocide Convention. Government officials claim on their part that the delay in the trial is not deliberate but rather as a result of the absence of functioning institutions – police, courts, prosecutors, investigators, judges, etc immediately after the overthrow of Mengistu. The new regime had no confidence in the institutions of the old regime and so had to disband every institution to start anew. Thus, to train new judges, police men, prosecutors, etc took time. Secondly, the prosecutor assembled more than 3000 witnesses and insisted on cross-examining all of them to prove his case. The President of the Supreme Court informed the Special Rapporteur that the prosecution has rested its case and it is the turn of the defence. The authorities assured the Special Rapporteur that everything is being done to ensure a fair and speedy trial. The Special Rapporteur made an appeal to the authorities to expedite the process and ensure its fairness and also to consider the release of some of the officials especially those that are seriously sick and those that are above 70 years. 37 Report of the Mission of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons to Ethiopia 15 – 29 March 2004