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Information, Documentation and Training Agency, Arusha (Tanzania): Rwanda / Justice

Rwanda / Justice - files - 2002


DECEMBER 19th, 2002
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RWANDA/COMPENSATION

RWANDA GENOCIDE: PAYING FOR RECONCILIATION

By Gabriel Gabiro

As Rwanda searches its books for possible solutions to a massive reconciliation blank, the thorny subject of compensation of survivors of the 1994 state-sponsored genocide has taken centre-stage. Eight years after the 1994 genocide, most survivors, like many other Rwandans in general, continue to live in abject poverty. Many families in the countryside live with no guarantees for such basic needs as food and water. To genocide survivors that were better off before 1994, this is a relic difficult to push aside.

"Reconciliation doesn't go down easily on an empty stomach", says 62-year-old Anonciata Mukanyange. "All those calls for reconciliation from our leaders simply make no sense to me. I have more serious, life-threatening calls to attend to." Mukanyange, an ethnic Tutsi from the south Rwanda province of Butare lost her husband and all her six children in the genocide. The family owned a small successful retail business in Butare town. At the peak of the 1994 genocide, the business was looted clean by one Musafiri, a militia leader that ordered the killing of Mukanyange's family, according to her.

In 1997, Musafiri was sentenced to 20 years in jail for genocide and looting. Mukanyange is one of the survivors that filed a civil suit demanding for compensation from Musafiri. The court ordered that Musafiri, together with the state, pay the damages as soon as possible. However, as years click by, these survivors have lost all hope of recovering anything from Musafiri - and, to Mukanyange, any possibility of living peacefully with Musafiri's family. Mukanyange claims that Musafiri's wife and children lead a lavish life off his loot… just next door.

"Complex" law
The current government has admitted responsibility in compensating for the actions of the government in power in 1994. The government is then supposed to pay most of the compensation claims against convicts. Despite many court orders awarding damages to complainants in genocide cases, Rwanda still has no law dealing with the issue of compensation. Only recently did the government complete at least two years of deliberations on the draft. The bill will "soon" be put before parliament. Practically, the authorities, until now, cannot enforce the court orders that have been streaming in.

"This is a complex matter. We had to examine it very carefully", says Rwandan minister of justice, Jean de Dieu Mucyo. "There's a few topographical changes to be made to the draft. It will soon be in Parliament". This time around things look like they will work out. Analysts believe that the government is under pressure to have a law on compensation in place before the semi-traditional Gacaca courts begin rendering sentences. Gacaca courts began functioning in June. The courts, created to clear a backlog of genocide cases and foster reconciliation, are still in their preparatory stages. The first trials are due to begin in the first quarter of next year. Maiden sentences would then be delivered sometime in mid-2003.

"We have to determine who deserves compensation. We need to qualify the kind of relatives to the deceased that can be compensated", says Mucyo. "We also have victims whose assailants have not been and may never be known. Their relatives don't have anyone from whom to demand compensation. We can not
simply forget them. We need to work out something for them as well", he adds.

So far, court orders have instructed the government and convicts to pay billions of Rwandan Francs in damages. The government, which is the prime defendant, clearly cannot and would never acquire such amounts. "We have proposed that complainants receive a certain fixed amount whether they lost one, ten, or two hundred people", says Mucyo. But it is not clear whether the new law will have retroactive capacity to review the damage awards that have been granted so far, since these awards are based on the magnitude of loss or injury incurred.

The many sides of compensation
It is not any clearer either as to how genocide survivors will receive the law. The government will have to sell the idea compensations that have no regard to numbers to a culture where large families are considered an investment. The word 'Children' in Kinyarwanda can also mean 'amaboko' (arms). The more children one has, the more arms they possess. Mukanyange says that all her arms have been cut off. She, and some others, have demanded for compensation for all the 'arms' they lost, not a fixed amount.

Moreover, a significant number of Rwandans cannot accept this concept. Traditionally, blood in Rwanda can only be paid for by blood. This is not regarded as revenge but rather an exorcizing and reconciliation ritual. For Rwandans who still hold such beliefs, receiving monetary compensation for human life simply amounts to treachery against their loved ones. The principle that life cannot be exchanged for money is dearly respected by these people. In an atmosphere where the 'blood for blood' practice cannot be easily carried out, a section of the survivors of the genocide quietly harbours wounded hearts.

"The least I could do is forgive them when they become repentant", Ernest Mutsindashyaka says of people who killed his parents and his three siblings. "I would never receive money or property for their lives", he adds. Compensation does not only apply to those that lost property or family during the genocide. Among Rwandans seeking for compensation are those cleared of genocide charges after many years in detention. Over 100,000 genocide suspects await trial in Rwandan jails. Some of these have been in detention for over seven years.

There are no known formal demands for compensation for time lost in detention without trial. However, some suspects vindicated by courts are known to informally talk of being compensated. This is also one area that will be cleared when the law on compensation is passed by parliament

Compensation funds
When Parliament passes the law on compensation, one other tricky question will remain - finding the funds to compensate complainants. Neither the convicts, nor the government itself currently have the money to comply with court orders of compensation.

"We will start with the most needy of the complainants", says Mucyo. The government plans to set up a compensation fund in which 8% of the annual national budget will always be deposited. Currently, there is a genocide survivors' fund accounting for 5% of the annual budget which supports destitute genocide survivors. This fund will be scrapped when the compensation fund comes into existence.

The government has also requested foreign donors to help raise the compensation funds. "They are asking for our programme so they can begin helping us", says Mucyo. Whether this will not turn out to be like previous promises for aid that were at best partially realised or at worst completely abandoned remains to be seen. Sources in the ministry of justice have talked of a lot of promises for aid for the Gacaca project itself but only a few delivered so far.

The government hopes to supplement the compensation fund with funds generated from property constructed and services given by convicts from Gacaca trials. Some payments will also be made in services like renovating houses partially destroyed during the genocide, or building new houses for the survivors. Gacaca law provides for the commutation of half of the sentences to community services. This part of the sentence would be served outside prison. Convicts will be expected to work for the state for three or four days a week and proceeds will go to the compensation fund. On a national level, a body to manage the Gacaca community work project was recently set up.

At the moment, not much is known about the actual organisation of the compensation fund and the compensation law. What is a little clearer however, is that compensation is a key chapter if Rwanda is to achieve reconciliation.

GG/CE/FH(RW-1219e)


6th DECEMBER 2002
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RWANDA/GACACA

HIGH TURN OUT AS GACACA COURTS OPEN NATIONWIDE

Kigali, December 5th, 2002 (FH) - One week after the opening of the semi-traditional Gacaca courts across the whole of Rwanda, the Rwandan authorities said on Wednesday that there had been a generally high turn out for the hearings.

“The turn out was very good. We are impressed”, Charles Kayitana, the director of communication in the Gacaca department of the Rwanda Supreme Court, which supervises the Gacaca courts, told Hirondelle.

Gacaca courts started operating in June 2002, with 80 pilot Gacaca courts. An evaluation by the Gacaca department four months later concluded that the pilot Gacacas had been a success. Some 600 courts opened last week in what has been described as the “wholesale opening” of the courts. The special courts were created to speed up the trials of over 100,000 genocide suspects languishing in Rwandan prisons. Some of them have been in detention without trial for over seven years.

“The only limitation now is the logistics. We would otherwise have opened all the courts”, Kayitana added. An estimated 10,000 courts are expected to be set up.

“It’s now up to us”, Methode Hatangimana, a resident of Gisozi sector on the outskirts of Kigali city told Hirondelle shortly after the start of Gacaca hearings in his cellule (a Rwandan administrative area). “We have no other chance to prove to the world that Rwandans can live together in harmony again”, he said. Gisozi witnessed some of the worst massacres of the 1994 genocide.

Asked whether he believed that his neighbours were going to tell the truth in the hearings, Hatangimana said: “Maybe. Maybe not. But there will always
be someone else that saw the events. Everything here took place in broad daylight. They were proud of killing”.

Each Gacaca court will proceed at its own pace. Courts that opened in June are now at phase six of the hearings. This phase, during which lists of suspects are drawn up in open public sessions, is the penultimate before the trials begin. The last phase, which is closed to the public, will categorise the suspects into the four categories provided for in Rwandan law. Trials in the courts that opened in June are set to begin early next year. Gacaca courts have jurisdiction over all but the first category of genocide suspects - alleged planners rapists and distinguished killers.

Boycotts in the north
Contrary to the general trend elsewhere in the country, some parts of the Rwanda have opposed Gacaca. The provinces of Byumba, Gisenyi and Ruhengeri, close to the northern Rwanda border with Uganda have been seen as resistant to the Gacaca process. The area was the base of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebellion that ousted the Sindikubwabo government. Residents here have requested for an amendment to the law establishing the courts to include war
crimes committed by members of the current Rwandan army in its war to end the 1994 genocide.

A source in the Gacaca department that preferred anonymity confirmed that there was a low turn out at Gacacas in these areas. Gacaca courts have no jurisdiction over war crimes. The RPF-led coalition government in Kigali acknowledges that some members of its army committed war crimes but says
they have been tried and will continue to be tried by military tribunals.

“There is a clear distinction between isolated incidences of vengeance and an organised genocide”, Rwandan minister of Justice, Jean de Dieu Mucyo told Hirondelle. “We have made it clear to people with complaints against the army that they have a forum to address those issues”, he added.

Mucyo poured scorn on the predictions of some analysts that the opposition in the north was likely to have a substantial effect on the success of
Gacaca.

Witness protection
Reports of intimidation and killing of potential witnesses is another problem that has shown up since the start of Gacaca courts. Hirondelle has learnt of four unconfirmed murders in Kigali allegedly committed to prevent the victims from testifying.

“We have not heard of any particular case of murder”, Kayitana said. “We have only heard and dealt accordingly with reports of intimidation in some parts of the country”, he said, adding that “such things are bound to happen when you open up trials on such a wide scale against a backdrop of massive participation in the genocide”.


High confession rates
On the other hand, Gacaca may benefit from the high numbers of confessions being reported among prisoners. Confession hearings have been taking place in prisons around the country since 1999. Some of these hearings are open to the public.

A report released last week by the Ministry of Justice indicates that 30% of all genocide suspects in detention have pleaded guilty. In the Nyamata
region (South Rwanda), as many as 56% of the suspects in detention have pleaded guilty.

Gacaca law provides for halving of sentences for suspects that plead guilty and confess. Prosecutors have been encouraging suspects to plead guilty to avoid long sentences and to foster reconciliation. “This is going to speed up the process of Gacaca and quicken genuine forgiveness”, Kayitana said.

GG/CE/FH(GA-1206e)

6th DECEMBER 2002
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RWANDA/GACACA

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW : RWANDA PUSHES ON WITH GACACA TRIBUNALS

Five months after the inauguration of pilot semi-traditional Gacaca courts in Rwanda to try genocide suspects, the government last week opened the
courts nationwide. The courts were set up to speed up trials of over 100,000 genocide suspects awaiting trial in crowded jails. Some of them have been in
detention without trial for over seven years. In an exclusive interview with Hirondelle, Rwandan minister of justice, also one of the brains behind
Gacaca, Jean de Dieu Mucyo, describes the various problems encountered along the way, solutions and plans for further expansion of the courts. Here are
excepts of the interview:

Hirondelle: After the 80 pilot gacaca courts opened in June, you have now opened some 600 more courts in the first phase of opening the courts
nationwide. When do you expect to open the remaining 9,000 or so courts?

Mucyo: Logistics are our only problem at the moment. Other courts will open as we get more resources. I can’t mention a specific date but I think that
will be next year.

Hirondelle: A week after the nationwide opening of Gacaca tribunals, what is your assessment of the attendance at the trials?

Mucyo: Generally, there is a high turn out at the trials. There is a lot of enthusiasm among the people.

Hirondelle: There are reports of a substantial number of people in the north of the country boycotting the hearings because of the lack of jurisdiction over war crimes allegedly committed by Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) in its war to stop the genocide. Isn’t this likely to spread to other parts of the
country and derail the hearings?

Mucyo: What do you mean by a ‘substantial number’ (laughter)? This is something that we have explained time and again. Nevertheless, there are a few people that want to divert the rest by misinterpreting it. Gacaca courts were established to try genocide. Genocide is a crime clearly defined by the law. Isolated crimes of vengeance ought not to be confused with genocide. Gacaca law is very clear. It deals with genocide between 1990 and 1994. Anything outside that is for regular and military courts. For example, there are people who say that genocide in Rwanda began in 1959. They have complaints from those years. Gacaca courts have limited jurisdiction. We are not saying that people should dump their complaints. We’re simply calling for people to direct their complaints to the right jurisdictions.

Hirondelle: How prepared are you in dealing with possibilities of widespread trauma when the trials begin?

Mucyo: This is a serious problem. It even exists now. The ministry of health is currently sensitising people around the country in preparation for the trials. We make sure that trauma counsellors are present at all hearings. We are also training more people. We also request organisations like the Red Cross help us.

Hirondelle: Eight years after the genocide, Rwandans are still strongly divided along ethnic lines. How much genuine co-operation do you expect from such a society in telling the truth given that Gacaca will largely depend on the goodwill of the people?

Mucyo: That is an opinion held by people outside the country. Those that get to Rwanda notice that we have made a big step from where we were in 1994. We have improved a great deal in unity and reconciliation. For example, we have heard cases of genocide suspects pleading guilty before families of survivors. The survivors have forgiven the perpetrators in public. Many people outside the country can’t imagine such things happening in Rwanda. If people can, now, unlike in the past, sit together with people they believe killed their loved ones, this is an evolution.

Hirondelle: Talking of genocide suspects pleading before the public, under what jurisdiction, between ordinary courts and Gacaca, does this process and
that of confessions in prisons lie? How much weight is given to these seemingly informal hearings?

Mucyo: This is part of the sensitisation campaign for Rwandans to tell the truth. These are not trials. It is a process, a voluntary one, agreed upon with the suspects and organised by the suspects themselves. Suspects from the same area form “truth committees” to describe what happened in their
area. The prosecutor then counter checks the testimonies with his case files. This will help speed the trials when they start.

Hirondelle: How far have you gone with the setting up of the law on compensation of victims of the genocide?

Mucyo: This is a very sensitive and complex issue. A draft bill will soon be tabled in parliament on compensation. We have worked on this since 2000. There are still issues of who should be compensated and how much. One thing for sure is that it will benefit survivors. We plan to start with the most needy.

Hirondelle: One of the biggest problems facing the expansion and efficiency of Gacaca courts has been reported to be lack of logistics. How are you
dealing with this?

Mucyo: True, we have financial problems. Fortunately, Rwandans have always been known to sacrifice themselves for important causes like this one. We hope this will continue.

Hirondelle: Is it true that some donors have reneged on their promise for aid to Gacaca?

Mucyo: At first, people had problems with Gacaca. This wasn’t only with foreigners but with Rwandans as well. We explained everything to them and we now have everyone on board. Foreign donors, genocide survivors, suspects and other Rwandans are all helping in the search for the truth. The government has put in its efforts and the donors have helped us at every stage. Until now, I think we are doing well.
GG/CE/FH(GA-1206e)


14 OCTOBER 2002
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RWANDA / GACACA

GACACA TAKES OFF SLOWLY


Kigali, Oct 2002 (FH) – After a break of several months, pilot ‘Gacaca’ courts have been starting work again one by one since the middle of September. ‘Gacaca’, meaning literally ‘judgement on grass’, has been introduced in Rwanda to speed up the trials of around 115,000 people who are accused of participating in the genocide, in which more than a million people were killed between April and July 1994, including Tutsis and moderate Hutus. These popular courts were in effect, temporarily suspended at the end of July, at the end of their fifth public meeting. This was principally to allow the coordination to take stock of the situation, see
what had been accomplished and what problems they had faced. It was also to prepare the judges for the two next stages, during which the public assemblies will establish lists and individual details of the accused. At the end of this process the real trials will finally begin. But already the Gacaca pilot courts have shown up a number of problems which it will be necessary to take into account before eleven thousand courts are due to begin their work all over the country, at the beginning of next year.

The pilot courts began on 19 June this year in 73 cells of 12 sectors chosen from the 11 provinces of Rwanda and the city of Kigali. Rwanda is divided administratively into cells, sectors, districts and provinces, with the city of Kigali treated separately. Every level of the administration will have its own gacaca court. Adding it together, there are 9001 cells, 1545 sectors and 106 districts, making 10662 tribunals, which call upon 254,152 voluntary judges. They are known as the ‘Integres’ meaning people with integrity and were elected in October 2001.

During their first meeting on 19 June the 73 gacaca courts began by fixing the day of the week of which their public assemblies would regularly meet. The whole population of the cellule can take part in the public assembly, along with the 19 judges. According to the law, the quorum or minimum level of participation is 100 people.

During their second meeting during the next week, the assemblies concentrated on listing every family and their members who were living in the cellule until 6 April 1994 (the date that the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus started), as well as their current probable addresses. The law allowing for “the assembly to present the means of proof in the trial,” the census will be the basis for identifying potential witnesses.

The third meeting, from 2 July onwards, established the lists of the victims of genocide killed in the cellule between 1st October 1990 and 31 December 1994, house by house, those who were residents, those who were passing through or were refugees. This list was finished during the fourth public meeting when the courts also put together a list of those who were permanently resident in the cellule between 1st Oct 1990 and 31 December 1994 but who were killed outside the cellule.

During the fifth stage, the assemblies filled out forms for genocide survivors who are asking for compensation, family by family. When a person has been identified, the files mention his relation to the victim, as well as material damage. The sixth meeting, which is happening now, puts together the lists of those accused. In the lists are all the charges against an individual. For the seventh stage, the last one in this preparation phase of the judicial papers, the courts classify the accused by category.

During this first phase, the public assemblies of the pilot gacacas met every week in each cellule. This rhythm will slow down when the trials start, with one ordinary meeting per month according to the law. All the steps followed by the 73 cellules in this pilot phase are a sort of practice. They will be followed to the letter by all the other jurisdictions when they get going.

The pilot cellules were not chosen at random. One reason is that a some of them, around 475, have a high number of previous residents who have pleaded guilty. Once the gacaca courts start, they will first of all judge those who have admitted their guilt. Officially, that means more than 21 thousand people. According to the Department for Gacaca courts at the Supreme court, these cellules were also chosen because they were more cooperative than elsewhere.

SPEED UP THE PROCESS AND RECONCILE THE RWANDANS
Each of the four administrative levels in Rwanda, cellules, sectors, districts and provinces has its own gacaca courts. And each administrative court has a level of responsibility for judging. At the cellule level, the gacaca court is authorised to judge those suspected of looting and other material damage, meaning the fourth category of detainees. Those judged guilty will repair or reimburse the victims. According to the gacaca law there is no possibility of appeal at this level.

At the next level up, gacaca courts of the sector are concerned with third category matters, meaning suspects who injured without intending to kill. At the district level the courts will judge second category suspects, meaning those who have killed and for whom the maximum penalty would be life imprisonment, along with hearing appeals from sector level judgements. Finally Gacaca at the provincial level would only be dealing with appeals.

In the Gacaca trials the accused do not have lawyers. According to the law, the population will at the same time be both complainant and judge. As for the first category suspects, comprising the organisers and planners of the genocide, along with those suspected of rape and other sexual torture, for whom the maximum sentence is death, they will continue to be judged in law courts where the judges are fully trained professionals.

Around 115,000 detainees are accused of participating in the genocide. Since 1996, when genocide trials started, a little more than 7,000 have been judged. At the current pace of trials, they would take more than 100 years to complete. Therefore, gacaca – judgement on grass – was resurrected.

Inspired by the traditional village meetings, in which the wise people of the village make decision about community disputes, the gacaca have been modernised and formalised by an organic law, in order to accelerate the judicial process. According to estimates by the Department of Gacaca, 5 or 6 years of trials will be needed to judge all the accused.

DON’T TOUCH WAR CRIMES OF THE RPF
But apart from speeding up of process, Gacaca, popular participative justice has two other major objectives: to establish the whole truth about the genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes committed between 1 October 1990 and 31 December 1994 and also, to reconcile Rwandans. However, in some pilot courts the inhabitants have ‘suggested’ that the truth should not only concern about the crimes committed by the former Hutu militias of the ‘Interahamwe’ against the Tutsi minority. They say it should also deal with war crimes committed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), dominated by Tutus, which came to power after its military victory over the Hutu regime in July 1994.

Some independent newspapers have quickly relayed these ‘suggestions’. Le Verdict – a monthly magazine of the Rwandan League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LIPODHOR), which covers the genocide trials, gives an example of a case which was presented during a gacaca meeting in the cellule of Gihanga (Nyarugunga sector, Kanombe district, Kigali city). While the assembly was in the process of establishing a list of the victims of the genocide in the cellule, one of its members posed the delicate question: “what about a person hunted in 1994 and who had the luck to survive the Interahamwe (Hutu militia). And is then found assassinated when the refugees returned. Who does responsibility for this death lie with?”

A woman, member of the judges, left the bench at that point and joined the assembly. She wanted to speak as a simple witness. “I stayed here. The victims who are causing us problems were killed by RPF soldiers. It is up to you now to decide which category to put them in”, she said before returning to her place on the bench. According to the magazine, some welcomed this provocative declaration by clapping and others in disbelief. In order to cut short the debate the president of the judges remarked that if these people were killed by the RPF, their case belongs to the regular courts. These complaints should not be brought in front of the gacaca.

This is not an isolated case. During the fourth session of the public meetings of the gacaca in the cellule of Murambi (Nyange sector, Budaha district, Kibuye province), as they were finalising the lists of the victims, suddenly a woman wanted to be heard: “We are giving the names of those killed between 1 October 1990 and 31 December 1994 aren’t we?” The judges agreed. “So the lists you have just put together are not right. You haven’t counted the 18 members of my family killed 22 July 1994 by RPF military”. She then gave the name of the commandant.

This declaration appeared to liberate the assembly. Straightaway all reticence disappeared. “Stop this discrimination between deaths,” rang out one voice. “You are mixing up genocide and acts of vengeance,” said others. Everyone was speaking at the same time. The name of the commandant was on many people’s lips. He was known along with where he worked. In all this confusion, the president of the court had severe difficulties in controlling the situation.

In the end a representative of the coordinator of gacaca in Kibuye province managed to calm spirits. “Unless you only could prove that these crimes are part of a deliberate plan to exterminate one ethnicity, you should not mix them up with genocide. Leave them to the ordinary courts,” he said. A provincial representative of the National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation supported this, explaining that, “these crimes, also condemnable, are different from genocide. They were severely punished each time they were reported to the RPF hierarchy”.

But the meeting was not completely satisfied. One of its members confided, “if the gacaca courts are to lead to reconciliation, they have to give justice to everyone. Another adds “It would have been much simpler to burst the abscess right away.”

The Rwandan authorities have never denied that war crimes were committed by some elements of the RPF. But they have always differentiated between these
crimes and genocide and said that they are not for the gacaca courts to deal with. Head of State, General Paul Kagame, knocked the idea on its head in his inauguration of gacaca on 18 June, “there should be no amalgamation between genocide and crimes committed during or after. Acts of vengeance were committed by isolated individuals. Every time they were known about, were punished severely”.

THE ETHNIC DEMONS ARE NOT DEAD
This ‘divergence’ between the general population and the authorities is not the only problem facing gacaca. According to one inquiry into the gacaca pilots by an international NGO, Penal Reform International (PRI), published in July, the ethnic problems and the reconciliation give rise to a good number of questions by the people during the meetings. Most of them are pointed: “how should human rights violations before and after the genocide be treated? Why does gacaca only deal with one ethnic group? Why aren’t the Hutus killed in 1994 by the RPF talked about as well? In April 1994 some Tutsis ran away and came back later. Others ran away in July 1994. The first group stole our grain stocks. Can we get reimbursement? When we hear talk about the Gacaca process, we are frightened about what will happen when prisoners are released. How can we live with them? If the criminals don’t ask for forgiveness from us, how do we know they won’t do it again?”

In addition to these practical issues, there are also the vivid ethic fears in some regions. According to the enquiry, “the population in Kimisugi and Muhororo (Mutete sector, Kisaro district, Byumba province), hesitated about going to the first Gacaca meetings. Rumours were flying about reports of Tutsis killing Hutus there. Some families ran away, while others sold their goods. When the authorities wee informed, they organised meetings to reassure the people. The first gacaca assemblies in these areas were not finally heard until 22 June, three days after the other pilot cellules.

PRI believes that “these fears are probably linked to a historical event never able to be confirmed and which happened in the region in 1994: during a public meeting organised by the RPF, its soldiers killed many civilians.”

Faced with these questions for the moment the Gacaca courts lack an answer. Unfortunately, time appears to be running out. PRI suggests in theconclusion of its report that there is growing disenchantment with the first phase of the gacaca pilots: the number of participants is going down and many participants no longer express themselves during the meetings. “The enthusiasm of some people has diminished considerably when they realised that Gacaca could not investigate the past. One part of the Hutu community who lost loved ones following the RPF counter attack in 1994 lost all interest in the gacaca meetings when it became apparent that the victims were not taken into account. One part of the population fears being arrested if they show that they know things relation to these events. Others testify with a great sense of insecurity, especially those who escaped from genocide, when they remember what happened”, explains PRI.

This low level of enthusiasm is also explained by economics, especially “agricultural obligations. The gacaca pilots started during the sorghum
harvest. Therefore some people said these meetings will lead us to famine”, writes PRI.

There is no doubt, the Gacaca pilots constitute a excellent case study which will permit the authorities to correct the different problems, before the start of 11, 000 gacaca courts. These problems and the questions which would have been much more difficult to manage if the whole gacaca apparatus had begun at the same time.

WK/FH (RW_0925A)

AUGUST 20th, 2002
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RWANDA TO INDICT FRENCH OFFICERS FOR ALLEGED ROLE IN GENOCIDE

Arusha, August 20th, 2002 (FH) - The Rwandan government could be, for the first time, in the process of indicting French military officers on charges related to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Hirondelle has learnt.

"We have always mentioned the role of the French government in the genocide. We have now moved to indict some officers", a reliable government source said.

Rwanda has always accused the French government of arming and giving diplomatic cover to the former Rwandan government that presided over the genocide. The government has also often accused the French humanitarian force to Rwanda, Operation Turquoise, of creating an escape route into the Democratic Republic of Congo to militias, soldiers and officials of the former government. Operation Turquoise controlled most of the western boarder of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo from June to August 1994.

A French parliamentary commission in 1998 effectively cleared the French government of any involvement in the 1994 genocide.

When asked, the Rwandan Prosecutor General, Gerard Gahima, refused to confirm or deny the reports.

GG/FH(RW-0820e)



JULY 8th, 2002
________________________________________________________________ 
ICTR/PLENARY
 
PLENARY CHANGES ALLOW NATIONAL JURISDICTIONS TO TRY SUSPECTS
 
Arusha, July 8th, 2002 (FH) Suspects indicted by the Tribunal can now be tried by national jurisdictions following amendments to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Rules of Procedure by last week's plenary of judges in Arusha.

In a press conference highlighting the plenary discussions, ICTR spokesperson Nigerian, Kingsley Moghalu denied that the changes were expressly a response to the Rwandan government's call for trials to be held in that country. "The changes are a response to the experience that the Tribunal has had," he stated.

The plenary of judges sat over the weekend. Moghalu said that a new rule '10 bis' now allows reverse referral whereby the authorities of the state where a suspect is arrested to prosecute an accused person.

This rule also allows authorities of another state to prosecute, as long as the authorities of the arresting state do not object and if the arresting or receiving state have jurisdiction over the accused.

Moghalu said that the changes by the plenary were "inspired by the notion of universal jurisdiction" and were in line with the ICTR Prosecutor's strategy of completing trials by 2008.

In addition to this rule, the ICTR spokespersons said rule '45 ter' had been amended to ensure suspects did not reject lawyers provided for by the Tribunal and then unduly delay trial.

The other key change, according to Moghalu, is that rule '92 bis' will now provide for proof of fact other than the oral testimony. The rule will allow for consideration of written statements not dealing with acts or conduct of the accused as per the indictment. The statements could be dealing with relevant historical, military background and general statistical analysis.

Moghalu said this is a potentially important rule that would speed up trial by significantly reducing time in court.

Another important element is the introduction of a new 'Article 5 bis' on the code of professional conduct for defence counsel. Moghalu said it was now clear and explicit in writing that fee splitting was illegal. "It is also clear that it includes but is not limited to financial arrangements," he said.

The ICTR spokesman also said that gifts from defence lawyers to the accused would be permitted in limited circumstances and with permission from the Tribunal.

In total, he said, the plenary dealt with 18 amendments in rules of procedure and evidence and one in the code of conduct of defence lawyers.
SW/JA/FH (PL-0708e)

JUNE 22nd, 2002
______________________________________________
RWANDA/GACACA

ETHNICALLY TOUCHY RWANDA FACES GACACA TEST

By Gabriel Gabiro

Ntarama, June 22nd, 2002 (FH)- Strewn among broken wooden chairs, below an old torn picture of a Catholic saint and another commemorating the 100th birthday of a missionary, in the grenade-holed Ntarama church, are some of about 5,000 annihilated skeletons of victims of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

“Here is my father, my mum, my brothers, my sisters, my cousins. Twelve members of my family lie here”, says Pacifique Mbonigaba pointing at the ruined church. Mbonigaba himself is one of the few ethnic Tutsi survivors of this attack that he recalls took place on April 15th, 1994. “I lay among the dead pretending I was dead, that is how I survived”, he says. One million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus are estimated to have been killed in the 1994 genocide, according to an official census by the government of Rwanda.

Eight years after the genocide, Mbonigaba’s only hope for justice is the recently inaugurated “gacaca” courts. Gacaca courts are a modernised version, so to say, of traditional Rwandan courts where a village elder summons the community to resolve disputes. Seating on gacaca (the Kinyawandan word for grass), community members play the roles of prosecutor, defender and judge. Whereas present day gacaca is based on written law, the key to its potential success will remain good faith rather than legal expertise.

Over 250,000 men and women have been elected as judges for 11,000 gacaca courts. The judges are supposed to be men and women of high moral integrity. Neither legal knowledge, nor for that matter literacy, were a precondition to their election. However the major concern in Rwanda itself is not whether or not these judges can competently interpret legal concepts but whether they will deliver fair judgments in a strongly ethnically divided country.

“These judges are human beings with relatives either among the victims or the accused”, says Silas Rukumbuka, a shopkeeper in the Southern Rwanda town of Nyamata. “They are vulnerable to biased opinion”, he adds. Rukumbuka also highlights the fact that gacaca judges will be unsalaried volunteers with no career to risk in case of misconduct.

In the event that the judges manage to transcend their ethnic identities, it also remains to be seen, to put it bluntly, whether on one hand, Hutus can honestly testify against their own and on the other, whether Tutsis can accept the verdicts.

“I’m ready to forgive and leave peacefully again with them”, says Mbonigaba mentioning names of three former neighbours that he accuses of killing 12 members of his family. “That is the spirit of a gacaca. And I’m sure no one will blame me for that”, he adds emphatically. Two of the three men he accuses are in detention, awaiting their turn to stand before Mbonigaba and other residents of Ntarama and answer the charges. The third is still on the run.

Mbonigaba’s own wife is a judge at the Ntarama gacaca court where the suspects will appear. “I will assist her as much as I can”, says Mbonigaba. He shrugs off any possibility of influencing his wife in her decisions.

Jean Baptiste Nzuwonemeye is a Hutu farmer in Nyamata. He says he is ready to testify against his brother who has been in detention since 1995 for killing two Tutsi women. “I saw him”, he says, “I will provide all information needed by gacaca.” Nzuwonemeye hopes that a gacaca court will pardon his brother or give him a light sentence.

One Hutu man who made a similar plan was murdered in Nyakabanda, a suburb of the capital city, a day after the election of gacaca judges in October last year. The man was reported to have always stated in public that should gacaca trials begin, “I will mention each one of you that participated in the genocide. If any of you knows anything against me, come up also and say it.” His murderer or the motive of his murder is still unknown.

Across Rwanda, try-outs of the gacaca system have generated hope. Suspects of low category genocide crimes were driven in trucks to their communities, where local opinion was sought on the charges against them. Those identified as innocent were released. “I think we got honest and objective opinions during these exercises”, says an official from the ministry of justice.

In post-genocide Rwanda public references to ethnic identity are more or less taboo. In private, however, or among people of the same ethnicity, ethnic sentiments are still high. “It might take generations to fully unite Rwandans”, says shop keeper Rukumbuka. “But what we urgently need now is to put aside the differences at least for the sake of justice”, he adds.

Since the 1996 re-opening of conventional Rwandan courts, 6,000 cases have been tried. Currently, about 110,000 genocide suspects remain in crowded Rwandan jails. Experts estimate that it would take up to 100 years to conclude genocide trials in conventional courts. The government estimates it will take about five years to finish the trials in gacaca courts.

The government is encouraging Rwandans to rekindle the old spirit of gacaca. As Rwandan minister of justice, Jean de Dieu Mucyo once said, “We know the system has some loopholes, but we clearly have no alternative.”

Outside Ntarama church, a young Tutsi lady who had been eavesdropping the interview with Mbonigaba runs towards our vehicle as we drive away and shouts, “we shall not forgive them. They turned us into orphans.”
GG/JA/FH (GA-0622e)
JUNE 19TH , 2002
_______________________________________________________________________________________
RWANDA/GACACA

HIGH TURN OUT AT FIRST GACACA SESSIONS IN RWANDA

Kigali, June 19th, 2002 (FH) –Thousands of people turned up at a dozen locations across Rwanda for the first day of work by traditional courts of justice known as ‘gacaca’. The courts are to try genocide and other related crimes committed in Rwanda between 1990 and 1994.
Initially, 80 of the 11,000 gacaca courts will operate across Rwanda. The rest are scheduled to begin after a two months. Some of the initial 80 are scheduled to begin operating on Thursday.

With a few people sitting under a makeshift tent and hundreds more squatting or standing on a nearby lawn, residents of Kamashashi cell on the outskirts of Rwandan capital Kigali listened attentively as the president of their court, Yohani Damascent Murwanashyaka, reiterated their duty to tell the truth about what happened during the genocide. Murwanashyaka was flanked by 19 ‘people of integrity’, twelve of them women, elected here last year by the community to be judges.

“In order to get justice, each one of you must speak the truth”, said Murwanashyaka. “As president of this court, I promise each one of you who so wishes a chance to speak…Let your hearts lead you to the truth”, he added. For today, all the judges did was to repeat to the community the objectives of gacaca courts and to agree on the schedule for future sessions.

Gacaca courts are based on an ancient form of traditional community justice practiced in Rwanda. People of high moral integrity, who have been elected from their communities, will decide the fate of about 110,000 genocide suspects languishing in crowded prisons across Rwanda. Around one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, according to an official census by the government of Rwanda. With existing conventional courts, experts estimate it would take up to 100 years to finish genocide trials in Rwanda.

“You heard of trials else where taking very long”, said Murwanashyaka. “Ours will be very fast and fair. This is because each and every one of you will fully participate. Forget about scenarios of five months’ adjournments and the like”, he added.

When given chance to speak, people in Kamashashi largely asked questions expressing fear for attacks on witnesses when the trials begin. “Many people are ready to say the truth”, said one resident, “but they may be victimized”, he added. “What protection will you offer such people?” he asked.

“I think there will be no problem when the truth is put in the open”, responded the president adding that, “no one should fear to tell the truth”. Many in the public murmured in disagreement. The president then added that security organs would provide protection to people witnesses who felt threatened.

Asked about her opinion on the performance of the judges on day one of the trials, the president of the gacaca department in the Supreme Court, Aloyisia Cyanzaire said she was “impressed”. “I can’t say it is perfect. It can’t be, but I think that was okay”, she said.

In the first phase that began on Wednesday, gacaca courts are only expected to identify victims of the genocide. Officials at the gacaca department say this process will take about two months. It will be followed by identification and categorisation of genocide suspects, which is expected to take less time, after which the trials will begin.
Each gacaca court will be composed of 19 judges. About 250,000 ‘people’s judges’ were elected in October 2001. They recently completed a month and a half of training. Judges will not be given a salary but will be covered by the state for all medical and school fees for their families.

The courts were to have begun operating early last year, but the start date was adjourned several times to allow more time for preparations. Gacaca courts will sit at least once every week on a day chosen by residents of respective areas.
GG/JA/FH (GA-0619e)

JUNE 18th , 2002
______________________________________________

RWANDA/GACACA
GACACA COURTS OPEN IN RWANDA
Kigali, June 18th, 2002 (FH) – Rwandan president Paul Kagame launched the beginning of Rwanda’s new post-genocide traditional justice system known as "gacaca" on Tuesday.

“I am particularly appealing to survivors of the genocide to tolerate testimony that will be given by those who know what happened, “ said Kagame at a ceremony held in the Rwandan parliament. “I am also requesting perpetrators of the genocide to muster the courage to confess and ask for forgiveness,” he added at the ceremony broadcast live on state television and radio

Gacaca courts are based on an ancient form of traditional Rwandan justice. People of high moral integrity, who have been elected from their communities, will decide the fate of about 110,000 genocide suspects languishing in crowded prisons across Rwanda. Around one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, according to an official census by the government of Rwanda. Gacaca courts will try all suspects except ‘Category One’ or top genocide suspects.

Initially, 80 of the 11,000 gacaca courts will operate across Rwanda. “In about two months, there will be an evaluation of the progress made such that by the end of the year, all courts should have begun to operate”, said the president of the gacaca department of the High Court, Aloyisia Cyanzaire.

Each gacaca court will be composed of 19 judges. About 250,000 ‘people’s judges’ were elected in October 2001. They recently completed a month of training. The courts were to have begun operating early last year, but the start-date was adjourned several times to allow more time for preparations.

In the first phase beginning on Wednesday, gacaca courts are only expected to identify victims of the genocide. Officials at the gacaca department say this process will take between two and three months. It will be followed by identification and categorisation of genocide suspects, which is expected to take less time, after which the trials will begin.

The Rwandan government says that gacaca will speed up genocide trials in Rwanda and bring about reconciliation. Since the 1995 when courts began working again in Rwanda, 6,000 genocide trials have been completed. An estimated 120,000 genocide suspects remain in detention awaiting trial. Only 13 courts in the country currently handle genocide cases. At this rate, the government estimates that it would take over one hundred years to finish all genocide cases. With the advent of gacaca, the government expects to have completed all trials within about five years.

President Kagame told the opening ceremony that justice in Rwanda would be “a foundation for reconciliation, unity and development”. He continued, “I am requesting all Rwandans from all walks of life to support the activities of gacaca by speaking the truth”.

Cyanzaire warned that “it is not easy because many hearts are still wounded”, adding that, “we must take the responsibility to get there as no one else can solve our problem”
GG/JA/FH(GA-0618e)
JUNE 17th , 2002
__________________________________________________________

RWANDA/JUSTICE

RWANDAN TRADITIONAL COURTS BEGIN TUESDAY

Kigali, June 17th, 2002 (FH) – "Gacaca", a traditional justice system, designed to try genocide cases in Rwanda, will officially start operating on Tuesday (18th June). A ceremony to inaugurate the courts will be held in the parliament in the capital Kigali, presided over by Rwandan president Major General Paul Kagame.

Gacaca courts are based on an ancient form of traditional Rwandan justice. Persons of high moral integrity who have been elected from their communities, will decide the fate of the thousands of genocide suspects languishing in crowded prisons across Rwanda. Around one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, according to an official census by the government of Rwanda. Gacaca courts will try all suspects except ‘Category One’ or top genocide suspects.

The training of about 250,000 'people’s judges' have just been concluded across the country. They will sit in 11,000 gacaca courts. On Wednesday, a day after the inauguration ceremony, only 80 courts will begin operating, selected from each of Rwanda's 12 provinces. Others are set to begin shortly after.

The Rwandan government says that gacaca will speed up genocide trials in Rwanda and bring about reconciliation. Since the 1995 when courts began working again in Rwanda, 6,000 genocide trials have been completed. An estimated 120,000 genocide suspects remain in detention awaiting trial. Only 13 courts in the country currently handle genocide cases.

In the first phase, gacaca courts are expected to only identify victims of the genocide. Officials at the department of gacaca in the Rwandan high court say this process will take between two and three months. It will be followed by identification and categorisation of genocide suspects, which is expected to take less time, after which the trials will begin.

Locations for the Gacaca courts:

- Nyarugunga sector, Kanombe district, Kigali-urban province (5 cellules) – 6 confessed
- Kindama sector, Ngenda district, Kigali-rural province (10 cellules) – 114
confessed
- Nkomero sector, Kabagari district, Gitarama province (11 cellules) – 147 confessed
- Gishamvu sector, Nyakizu district, Butare province (3 cellules) – 26 confessed
- Nkumbure sector, Mudasomwa district, Gikongoro province (9 cellules) – 11 confessed
- Nzahaha sector, Bugarama district, Cyangugu province(6 cellules) – 10 confessed
- Nyange sector, Budaha district, Kibuye province (8 cellules) – 20 confessed
- Murama sector, Kayove district, Gisenyi province (6 cellules) – 40 confessed
- Mataba sector, Bukonya district, Ruhengeri province (5 cellules) – 8 confessed
- Mutete sector, Kisaro district, Byumba province (5 cellules) – 47 confessed
- Birenga sector, Kigarama district, Kibungo province (5 cellules) – 65 confessed
- Gahini sector, Rukara district, Umutara province (7 cellules) – 50 confessed

GG/JA/FH(GA-0617e)


03 APRIL 2002
_________________________________________________
RWANDA / GACACA

TRAINING OF GACACA JUDGES STARTS 8 APRIL 2002

Kigali, 3rd April 2002 (FH) - The training of 254,152 judges of "gacaca", traditional justice, in Rwanda, who were elected last October, will begin on 8th April 2002, the Hirondelle news agency has learnt from the gacaca department of the Supreme Court.

781 trainers have already been trained between 4th February and 14th March this year. They are all magistrates or final year law students. The training of the gacaca judges will start on the same day all over the country. The judges are known as 'les Integres', because they were chosen by their communities as people of integrity.

Gacaca courts are to be set up at four administrative levels: cell, sector, district (formerly commune) and province (formerly prefecture). They will have the power to judge suspects charged with all but the highest category of genocide crimes. Since 1996, Rwandan law has divided genocide suspects into four Categories.

Gacaca jurisdictions at cell level will judge Category Four suspects, that is, people charged with looting or destroying victims' property during the genocide. Those found guilty will have to pay reparations only. Judgements at this level cannot be appealed. While this level of gacaca court will therefore handle only the more minor crimes, it will also prepare lists of those killed and categorize all suspects coming from that cell.

Sector level gacaca courts will judge Category Three suspects, defined as "the person who has committed or became accomplice of serious attacks without the intention of causing death to victims". District level gacaca jurisdictions will judge Category Two suspects, that is, those alleged to have killed. Such people face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

District level gacaca courts will also handle appeals from the sector level. Gacaca jurisdictions at province level will serve solely as appeal courts for district level cases.

Suspected genocide planners, and those suspected of rape and other sexual torture, placed in Category One, will continue to be tried by the ordinary courts, where judges are professional jurists holding at least a law degree. Category One suspects may face the death penalty.

The training of the new gacaca judges will last six weeks, with each "class" of between 70 and 90 participants receiving two days of training. The judges are to receive instruction in basic principles of law (especially in relation to the January 2001 law on gacaca); group management (how to organize and chair meetings); conflict resolution; judicial ethics; trauma (understanding and recognizing trauma, learning how to behave with trauma victims); human resources, equipment and financial management.

The training of the judges was initially set for the 18th March 2002. The date was put back because of logistical problems. At least 100,000 training booklets were needed and had to be translated into Kinyarwanda (the national language).

After the training, the trials will begin officially with the preparations of the lists of victims and suspects towards the end of May 2002. But sources at the gacaca department of the Supreme Court are not able to give the exact date.

After the lists have been drawn up the first trails will be organised simultaneously in 12 pilot provinces. The trials will then be progressively extended so that every part of the country has begun within two months after the pilots.

The idea behind gacaca is to speed up the genocide trials and to provide justice in the shortest possible time to the suspects and the victims. Only 13 regular courts have been dealing with these matters up until now. With gacaca, there will be 11,000 separate jurisdictions set up. The Court sources stress that this will reduce delays considerably.

With the current speed of trials, they could last several decades. Only around 6,500 people have been judged since December 1996, out of 115,000 detainees accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The official budget estimate for gacaca is 6 billion Rwandan francs (about 13 million dollars). In the national budget of 2002, more than 1.8 billion francs have been put aside for gacaca, according to the sources at the department of gacaca jurisdictions.

The training of the judges will begin the day after the commemoration of the eighth anniversary of the genocide, on 7th April 2002 in Nyakibanda in Butare province southern Rwanda. The government will symbolically bury the remains of three thousand victims and inaugurate a new monument to genocide.

WK/GF/JA/FH (RW_0403f)


FEBRUARY 12th, 2002
______________________________________________
RWANDA / GENOCIDE

OFFICIAL CENSUS PUTS GENOCIDE TOLL AT OVER ONE MILLION

Kigali, February 11th, 2002 (FH) - The 1994 genocide left just over a million people dead, according to an official report published by the
Rwandan Ministry of Local Government. The report is based on a census carried out in July 2000. However, only 934,218 victims could be clearly identified.

The report recommends further investigations, saying the census encountered "constraints that mean it is not perfect". It cites, for example, "the lack of reliable information in some regions where entire families were wiped out; omissions due to memory lapse; refusal to talk for fear of being arrested; or, in certain urban areas, the indifference of the population".

The report says the genocide started in the provinces (formerly prefectures) of Byumba, Umutara (northeast), Gisenyi and Ruhengeri (northwest), with the outbreak of war on October 1st, 1990. But it says that 99.2% of the victims were killed between April and December 1994.

According to the official report, 93,7% of the victims were killed because they were identified as Tutsis; 1% because they were related to, married to or friends with Tutsis; 0.8% because they looked like Tutsis, 0.8% because they were opponents of the Hutu regime at the time or were hiding (protecting) people from the killers.

Such figures are strongly contested by some exiled Hutu opponents of the current regime, such as former Rwandan Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramungu, who say that a far higher percentage of victims were Hutus. The census was only conducted within Rwanda and does not therefore include Rwandans living in exile.

The report says that "the number of victims of the Rwandan tragedy has been a subject of speculation, and remains controversial. The census is an attempt to find out (…) which families were affected, the names and number of victims nationwide, so as memorials can be raised and the most affected sites can be identified. This will allow the government to concentrate its efforts there (most affected sites) in the context of the reconciliation process."

Young people targeted

The survey found that 53.7% of victims were between 0 and 24 years old, while 41.3% were aged between 25 and 65 years. More men (56.4%) were killed than women (43.3%). The report says that this finding is corroborated by a 1996 demographic survey that said the percentage of women in the Rwandan population had risen from 51% to 54% between 1991 and 1996, while women heads of household rose from 25% to 34%.

With regard to socio-professional categories, the report found that the majority (48.2%) of genocide victims were poor rural dwellers, followed by students in secondary and higher education (21,2%). Pre-school children and elderly people over 65 represent 16.8% of victims, according to the report.

Most victims were killed by machete (37,9%), followed by clubs (16,8%) and firearms (14,8%). 0.5% of the victims were women who had been raped or cut open. Other victims were forced to commit suicide, beaten to death, thrown into rivers or lakes, or burned alive. Infants and babies were thrown against walls or crushed to death.

Most killings took place in the countryside (59,3%), followed by churches (11,6%). But all other possible places of refuge (local authority buildings, schools, hospitals etc.) also became massacre sites.

The highest percentage of victims was recorded in the southern province of Butare (22,1%), followed by Kigali-Rural (14,6%) and Gitarama (12,1%). The provinces with the lowest percentage were found to be Ruhengeri (1,3%), Byumba and Umutara (which were at the time one prefecture, 2.8%) and Gisenyi (3,8%).

The Ministry of Local Government does not offer an explanation for this phenomenon. However, Butare was considered not only as having a high percentage of Tutsis but also as the bastion of the Social Democrat Party (PSD), which was allied to pro-Tutsi RPF rebels. Ruhengeri and Gisenyi prefectures were considered to have a lower percentage of Tutsis, while most of Byumba had been occupied by the RPF since 1992.

WK/JC/FH (RW_0211e)

See also
: > Rwanda - Justice - news
: > Rwanda - Justice - files - 1999/2001

The ICTR on-line
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