FONDATION HIRONDELLE - HIRONDELLE NEWS AGENCY
IN ARUSHA
RWANDA - JUSTICE
______________________________________________
RWANDA/GACACA
STUNNED BY GROWING NUMBERS OF GENOCIDE SUSPECTS, RWANDA REVISITS CATEGORISATION
Kigali, October 7th, 2005 (FH) – At first it was 120,000 genocide
suspects, including a few thousand “alleged planners and renowned killers”,
but now Rwanda expects over 700,000 people – almost one tenth of its population
to be brought before genocide courts.
Three years ago, Rwanda set up Gacaca courts to deal with the bulk of its
genocide cases and leave only a couple of thousand “Category One” to
the regular courts – a solution guaranteeing each of Rwanda’s genocide
suspects a day in court.
Today, thanks to a rapid growth in the number of suspects, also aided by
a few amendments to the law, Category One suspects alone are expected to
hit the 50,000 mark some time before the end of the year.
“Regular courts would never handle such a volume”, says Innocent Musafiri,
spokesperson of the National Service for Gacaca Jurisdictions (NSGJ), the
organ in charge of Gacaca courts. “It is simply impossible”, he adds.
Gacaca courts are a blend of Rwandan traditional and conventional legal
systems. Elected “persons of integrity” preside over the community-based
courts. The courts will complete their trials by 2010, say authorities.
Downsizing "Category one"
Regular courts have taken eight years to complete 8,000 genocide trials.
At this rate, it would be about half a century before all 50,000 Category
Ones appear in court.
“We now have a proposal that involves sending most of the Category Ones
back to Gacaca and keeping only the most senior planners of the genocide”,
says Gacaca spokesperson Musafiri.
The plan would have to be approved by parliament since it implies a change
in the Gacaca law.
“We are also suggesting that Category Two be split into two groups. The
regular Category Two and those that will have been sent down from Category
One. The later will be handled by a new level of Gacaca that will have
more qualified judges”, says Musafiri.
The biggest hurdle for the proposal may be the sentencing part. All suspects
in Category One are liable to the death penalty. The maximum penalty that
can be given by a Gacaca court is 30 years in prison.
Downgrading Category One suspect to be heard at Gacaca level, without upgrading
possible sentences in Gacaca may meet strong opposition from genocide survivors.
The other option – handing Gacaca courts, which are often presided over
by people with very basic legal knowledge, with powers to give capital
punishment or life in prison – would also likely meet resistance from
families of the accused and human rights groups.
Proposed amendments to the Gacaca law also include an increase in trial
chambers. Presently, each community has one Gacaca chamber.
“Potential judges are there. The cases are plenty. Why not increase the
chambers?” wonders Gacaca spokesperson Musafiri.
But this poses some difficulties too. Gacaca courts seat once a week. Getting
people to attend the courts hasn’t been an easy task. The courts can’t
survive without direct input from members of the community. Increasing
the numbers of chambers means increasing Gacaca days or sharing Gacaca
audiences on existing days, and either of the two would be a challenge.
Authorities can however count on one certainty - that the changes
won’t come as a shock to Rwandans. With no precedents for guidance, hardly
a year passes without substantial changes to genocide laws in Rwanda.