During the rwandan genocide the hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 tutsi and moderate hutus, leaving the country with 120,000 accused genocidaires awaiting trial. Pri is grateful to all of the men and women who have participated, in whatever way, to the monitoring and research programme on the gacaca process. The court system managed to speedup the backlog of genociderelated cases. Tilburg university the legacy of the gacaca courts in rwanda. The details of rwanda s gacaca court system have been explored at length by other authors, and so i recount them only briefly here. B this article has been rated as bclass on the projects quality scale. The gacaca courts in rwanda, african affairs 103 2004. It is loosely translated to mean, justice amongst the grass. In this way, the similarities and differences of gacaca to a judicial court proceeding are explored,8 and gacaca s strengths and weaknesses are analyzed.
Rwanda s use of transitional justice after genocide. The volume expands the knowledge regarding these courts, assessing not only their performance in terms of formal justice and. Critics such as jeremy sarkin believe that the rwandan justice problem could much better be solved through a south. The conceptual and legal framework of the gacaca courts of rwanda according to sarkin 2001, the term gacaca was derived from the word lawn, which refers to the fact that. Arusha, as well as the efforts of rwandas own justice system. Combining both legal and empirical research, this book explores the statutory aspects and practice of gacaca courts inkiko gacaca, the centrepiece of rwanda s postgenocide transitional justice system, assessing their contribution to truth, justice and reconciliation. Rwanda and universal jurisdiction, rwanda s ordinary courts and gacaca. Rwandas troubled gacaca courts africa criminal justice reform. For this reason, rwanda decided to conceive gacaca courts as an alternative mechanism to provide justice for people within reasonable time. The gacaca courts, postgenocide justice and reconciliation. An analysis of the effectiveness of the gacaca court. This article examines the scope and limits of a system of negotiated justice in rwanda. Genocide, justice, and rwandas gacaca courts hollie nyseth.
This article is brought to you for free and open access by the mcgeorge. Since 1994 the government has struggled to administer justice to hundreds of thousands of genocide suspects. Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private. This postprint article is brought to you for free and open access by the political science at ur scholarship. Rwanda ends gacaca genocide tribunals africa dw 19 06 2012 quelle justice pour les rwandaises. In this article, we provide the first analysis of the outcomes of the gacaca courts, a traditional communitybased justice system that was greatly modified to address crimes of genocide. Gacaca courts, reconciliation and the politics of apology in postgenocide rwanda. Rwandas gacaca courts are hailed as a postgenocide success. Gacaca courts originate from the traditional system of conflict resolution called gacaca. Traditional justice and reconciliation mechanisms after violent conflict. For the purpose of bringing to justice the perpetrators of the genocide, the gacaca courts have been made more sophisticated and have been given far greater powers, which include imposing prison sentences of up to 30 years. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. Journal of contemporary criminal justice genocide, justice. Republic of rwanda ministry of agriculture and animal resources lwhrssp single project implementation unit.
Sep 01, 2005 in addition to the temporal jurisdiction which, incidentally, corresponds to rwanda s unsuccessful proposal with respect to the ictr, the gacaca courts were also similar to the specialized chambers in that they applied the fourtier categorization of crimes. During this phase, gacacacourts existed at the cell, sector, district and provincial level. Gacaca, the local courts in rwanda, officially closed on 18 june 2012. Rwandas gacaca courts were established as a response to the backlog of untried genocide cases. Feb 14, 2007 in rwanda, a huge legal experiment is underway. A cell is equivalent to a small community while a sector is equivalent to a small group of cells making up a village. Within these two categories, there were 90 cells and 1545 sectors, with over 12,103 gacaca courts established nationwide. The establishment of gacaca courts in order to face the. This article arrives at the conclusion that the ictr case law and prosecution practice have advanced, helping to develop international criminal law, and the.
After providing background to the human rights abuses in rwanda, this article examines rwanda s present attempt at developing a gacaca court system from the rehabilitated critical lens of the south african experience. Gacaca courts during the rwandan genocide right for. Contradictory hybridity written by bert ingelaere gacaca broke all records in terms of speed and quantity. I think that many perpetrators confess and repent for the sake of being set free, but in. Pri has acquired unique knowledge about the gacaca jurisdictions and this is largely due to the tenacity, patience, and analytical ability of the gacaca team in rwanda.
The gacacacourts were introduced in two waves during the initial 2year pilot phase. The gacaca courts, postgenocide justice and reconciliation in rwanda. An analysis of the effectiveness of the gacaca court system. The gacaca court is a traditional system of delivering community justice. The contribution of the gacaca jurisdictions to resolving.
Rwandas gacaca courts are hailed as a postgenocide. Truth, justice, and reconciliation in postconflict. Tilburg university the legacy of the gacaca courts in. Genocide, justice, and rwandas gacaca courts hollie. Rwanda s gacaca courts were established as a response to the backlog of untried genocide cases. The international criminal tribunal for rwanda and the nations domestic courts have struggled to bring them to trial.
The details of rwandas gacaca court system have been explored at length by. Mid this article has been rated as midimportance on the projects. In the aftermath of the rwandan genocide the crippled formal judicial system failed to administer justice in a timely manner. It focuses on the ictr decisions that address the issue of witness statements made before gacaca courts in rwanda,1 as well as the prosecutions disclosure practices for these particularly important records in the past few years. Global tides volume 8 article 4 112014 an analysis of the effectiveness of the gacaca court system in postgenocide rwanda lauren haberstock pepperdine university, lauren. Nonetheless, several deficiencies are present in the gacaca lawespecially with respect to fair trial standardsthat, coupled with the prevalent political and human rights climate in rwanda, may seri. Introduction between april 6 and july 4 of 1994, an estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 citizens of rwanda were massacred in an ethnically motivated genocide. Bret ingelaere, the gacaca courts in rwanda, traditional justice and reconciliation after violent conflict. Since 2001, the gacaca community courts have been the centrepiece of rwanda s justice and reconciliation programme. The first phase, which began in 1997 and is still continuing, targets the most serious offenders. A modified version of the traditional gacaca courts were introduced to hear cases from the backlog of over 100,000 genocide suspects.
The transitional national assembly, meeting in its session of 12 th october 2000. I have just modified one external link on gacaca court. Pri is grateful to all of the men and women who have participated, in whatever way, to the monitoring and research programme on the gacaca. Achieving the twin objectives of justice and reconciliation in rwanda is a complex process. The new courts are inspired by traditional dispute resolution mechanisms. Gacaca courts in rwanda,1 as well as the prosecutions disclosure practices for these particularly important records in the past few years. Gacaca is highly lauded by the government and many outside observers as the solution to rwanda s genocide. In order to evaluate whether gacaca courts were able to contribute to the need fulfilment in rwanda it is necessary to. Gacaca means grass in kinyarwanda, and, as the name implies, the hearings were traditionally held outside in. Genocide trials and gacaca courts journal of international.
The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether, and under what conditions, the gacaca courts can be an effective mechanism of justice and national reconciliation. In this contribution, the legacy of the gacaca courts is studied by looking at what the gacaca courts have achieved or may not have achieved against the objectives it was set up for in the rst place from the per spective of genocide survivors. It discusses the outcome of the rwandan reconciliation through gacaca traditional courts dispute resolution. Lies, halftruths, and silence have limited gacaca s contribution to. This paper analyzes the efforts of gacaca to achieve justice and reconciliation, in part by comparing the process to a typical trial in the united states. Although gacaca has brought more people to trial than the ictr, transnational trials, and the ordinary rwandan courts combined, gacaca exposesand perhaps deepensconflict, resentment, and ethnic disunity. Rwanda, genocide trials by gacaca courts were the best possible mechanism for.
Due to the nationwide presence of gacaca courts it is assumed that a large number of rwandans participated in the trials, either as victims, perpetrators, witnesses or spectators clark, 2008, pp. Pri has been undertaking independent monitoring of the gacaca courts in. Gacaca courts free download as powerpoint presentation. Some video extracts for students of ma reconciliation at the university of winchester. The government of rwanda thus turned to a different mechanism that combined retributive and restorative justice in 2001the gacaca courts. Before the period of colonisation, minor disputes in rwanda were presented locally to wise men for judgement in gacaca meetings while major disputes were heard by kings or mwami. The legal framework governing genocide cases and gacaca courts rwanda s first. The term gacaca can be translated as short grass referring to the public space where neighborhood male elders abagabo used to. Pdf gacaca courts, reconciliation and the politics of. Pri permits and encourages the free reproduction, distribution, and translation of any. Rwanda is a country of hills, mountains, forests, lakes, laughing children. The gacaca court system to address the fact that there were thousands of accused still awaiting trial in the national court system, and to bring about justice and reconciliation at the grassroots. A collection of quotes about the gacaca court system in post genocide rwanda.
Rwandas use of transitional justice after genocide. The categorization of gacaca courts in rwanda is based on the concept of a cell and a sector. In response, the rwandan government has embarked on an experiment in mass justice. A researcher, who studied two gacaca pilot programs for five months, noted that the official discourse is so. Rwandainside rwandas gacaca courtshandbook on building cultures of peaceleave none to. Gacaca courts date back to before rwanda was colonized bornkamm, 2012. The gacaca courts, postgenocide justice and reconciliation in rwanda since 2001, the gacaca community courts have been the centrepiece of rwanda s justice and reconciliation programme. Category 1 consisted of planners, organizers and framers of genocide or crimes.
In june 2002, the courts were launched in 12 districts throughout the country. Rwanda july 2007 gacaca monitoring and research report. Gacaca courts during the rwandan genocide right for education. Journal of dispute resolution university of missouri.
Nearly every adult rwandan has participated in the trials, principally by providing eyewitness testimony concerning genocide crimes. Two systems of retributive justice were set up by the international community and the rwandan government to try suspects of the 1994 genocide. Testimony and evidence in the gacaca courts august 2008 the settlement of property offence cases committed during the genocide update on the execution of agreements and restoration orders august 2009 the contribution of the gacaca jurisdictions to resolving cases arising from the genocide. The system dealt mainly with civil and social conflicts between members of the community. The legacy of rwandas communitybased gacaca courts hrw. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple faq for additional information. Commentators have discussed and argued at length over whether modern gacaca is a suitable form of justice to respond to the postgenocide rwanda problem. Acknowledgements we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the various stakeholders whose combined efforts.
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