Rwanda
on restorative justice with a strong component of reconciliation. It has
become common wisdom that the word Gacaca means ‘justice on the
grass’. In fact the name Gacaca originates from the word umucaca,
a Kinyarwanda word that refers to a plant that is so soft that people
prefer to sit on it when they meet. These gatherings were meant to
restore order and harmony for the purpose of establishing the truth
about what happened and determining the punishment of perpetrators.
Why is Gacaca preferable to the classical modern judicial system?
Right after the Genocide we had around 120,000 prisoners who were
suspected of participating in it. If we followed the modern judicial
system, with lawyers and legal processes, it would take 300 years to
finish the last case. Who would still be alive?
The choice of using Gacaca to deal with Genocide crimes speeded up
the process, and between 2002 and 2012 two million people were tried
and found guilty. You can ask me how 120,000 became two million.
This is very interesting because it is about the truth. Perpetrators were
encouraged to confess, and the truth was a condition for forgiveness.
By telling the truth prisoners denounced other people that they worked
together with; that is how the number went as high two million.
Gacaca tried two million cases in ten years, while the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) established by the United
Nations tried less than one hundred cases in fifteen years. Gacaca used
only 2.5 per cent of the budget of the ICTR.
Ingando (solidarity camps): A civic education activity that has facilitated
the smooth reintegration of former returnees, the then Rwanda armed
forces, and provisionally released prisoners back to their communities.
Target groups included women, youth groups, students joining
university and local leaders.
Umuganda (community work): Traditional community support to both
individuals and the national cause has been revived in the interest
of national reconstruction. This support comes in form of general
cleaning, tree-planting, road works, building houses for vulnerable
groups, and the construction of schools, health centres, etc. In all this
work the government recognizes the involvement of civil society.
Ubusabane: Community festivals aimed at enhancing unity and promoting
partnerships among communities.
Itorero Ry’igihugu: This was formerly a traditional Rwandan school to
International Conference on Transitional Justice, Zimbabwe
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