The sun is finally setting for the semi traditional courts, Gacaca, set up to try suspects of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Ten Years since its inception, it has tried close to two million people. Over the years it had come under heavy criticism from the so called expert jurists who were of the view that any judicial system that did not mirror their own system, was flawed.They thought that only those who passed Law School and only used “textbook” justice, i.e Common or Civil Law, could render justice, and anything out of that box of thinking, was tantamount to violating human rights.Genocide was committed by neighbours against neighbours, it was not carried out covertly but in broad daylight, so neighbours knew who were responsible for the crimes and were, therefore, in a better position to judge them.Ten years down the road, the critics have at last opened their eyes to reality: The community based Gacaca has delivered what no other justice system could have been capable of.Gacaca’s aim was not only meant to punish perpetrators of Genocide, it was also aimed at mending the threads of society, it was restorative justice that prioritised reconciliation and building trust. Which other judicial system would have achieved this?The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), despite spending billions of dollars, is still struggling to convincesurvivors of the Genocide that it brought them justice.Gacaca did not have to convince survivors, they were part of the process, together with the presumed or real perpetrators, transcending vengeful feelings and animosity in order to forge a new society; and it has succeeded.
