Gacaca court

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The Gacaca (pronounced "gachacha") court is part of a system of community justice inspired by tradition and established in 2001 in Rwanda, in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, when between 800,000 and 1,071,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsi, were slaughtered. After the Genocide, the new Rwandan Patriotic Front's government struggled with developing just means for the humane detention and prosecution of the more than 100,000 people accused of genocide, war crimes, and related crimes against humanity. In 2001, there were 130,000 prisoners in Rwandan prisons, and it was estimated that it would take 200 years to judge everyone.[citations needed]

In response, Rwanda implemented the Gacaca court system, which has evolved from traditional cultural communal law enforcement procedures.

Contents

[edit] Official Objectives of the Gacaca Court System

The "mission" of this system is to achieve "truth, justice, [and] reconciliation." It aims to promote community healing by making the punishment of perpetrators faster and less expensive to the state.

According to the official Rwandan government website of the National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions, the "Gacaca Courts" system aims to achieve the following objectives:

  • The reconstruction of what happened during the genocide
  • The speeding up of the legal proceedings by using as many courts as possible
  • The reconciliation of all Rwandans and building their unity

    The Supreme Court [of Rwanda] has been endowed with a 6th court called "Gacaca Courts Department" in order to co-ordinate and supervise the activities of the various courts without having to interfere with the decisions that they will have to make [and] in order to keep the national as well as the international community informed about the evolution of the Gacaca Courts' activities.

    Since 2002, Gacaca Courts Department was replaced by the National Service of Gacaca Courts so as to coordinate the Gacaca Courts activities and speed up this process. (Introd., National Service of Gacaca Jurisdictions)

    [edit] Tradition of Gacaca

    Originally, the Gacaca settled village or familial disputes. They were constituted as village assemblies, presided by the ancients, where each one could ask to speak. Gacaca (Kinyarwanda) translated roughly into English means "justice on the grass," as grass is the gathering place. The Gacaca court is thus a system of grassroots legal bodies, "inspired by tradition" (Introd.).[citations needed]

    The current Rwandan Gacaca court system, as established in March 2001, involves both plaintiffs and witnesses in an interactive court proceeding against alleged criminals.[citations needed]

    Traditionally, village elders called Inyangamugayo (Kinyarwanda for "uncorrupted" — intègre in French) would convene all parties to a crime and mediate a solution involving reparations or some act of contrition.[citations needed]

    The judges now qualified as Inyangamugayo, who also have basic judicial training, are among 250, 000 individuals elected by Rwandans to serve in the Gacaca courts, which are in charge of judging three (of the four) categories of people accused of implication in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.[citations needed]

    The defendants do not have lawyers, but all village people can participate and intervene, either against or in favor of the defendant.

    The first judgment of the operational phase took place on March 11, 2005.[citations needed]

    [edit] Classification of crimes into four categories

    The Act on the Organization and Pursuits of Crimes of Genocide or Crimes Against Humanity of August 1996 created four categories of alleged criminals:

    • planners, organizers and leaders of the Genocide, charges against those who have acted in positions of authority, presumed infamous assassins as well as those alleged to have committed sexual crimes involving torture or rape
    • perpetrators, co-perpetrators, or accomplices of voluntary homicide or violence with the intention to cause death or serious bodily harm leading to death
    • perpetrators of serious bodily injury to others without intention to murder
    • perpetrators of crimes resulting in property damage.[citations needed]

    The first category of alleged criminals (those accused of planning or leading the Genocide and those accused of torture, rape or other sexual crimes) have been prosecuted before State (national) criminal courts. The gacaca do not have jurisdiction over such crimes against humanity as genocide and related war crimes. (According to sources, this limitation may change.[citation needed].) The Gacaca courts have been adjudicating the three other categories (simple murder, bodily injury, property damage). Capital punishment remains an exclusive prerogative of the State.[citations needed]

    [edit] See also

    [edit] External links

    [edit] References

    • Stover, Eric and Weinstein, Harvey (2004). My Neighbor, My Enemy: Justice and Community in the Aftermath of Mass Atrocity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-54264-2.

    [edit] Literature

    Susanne Buckley-Zistel (2006): 'The Truth Heals?' Gacaca Jurisdictions and the Consolidation of Peace in Rwanda. Die Friedens-Warte Heft 1-2, pp. 113-130.

    Simon Gasiberege/Stella Babalola (2001): Perceptions about the Gacaca Law in Rwanda. Baltimore: John Hopkins University.

    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/a/c/Gacaca_court.html"
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