Rwandans reflect on Gacaca as trials come to an end

The winding up of the Gacaca judicial system has left some challenges, especially compensating victims and pending cases, which needs immediate approach, heads of legal and genocide survivors’ institutions have said.The community tribunal, which was established in 2002, to speed up Genocide trials, ended its activities yesterday after disposing of close to two million cases, with about 37,000 convicts serving their sentences in various prisons.About 1.2 million cases fell in the third category, which involved suspects accused of crimes of a relatively lesser magnitude like looting and destruction of property.Dr. Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, the president of IBUKA, an umbrella organisation of Genocide survivors associations, told The New Times that though the traditional courts did tremendous work to provide justice, it has left pending cases, especially those concerning property.“The issue of compensation needs immediate approach for the victims to be compensated,” said Dusingizemungu.The first category comprised of planners, organisers, instigators, leaders and supervisors of the Genocide, as well as those who raped; while the second category included those who participated in physical attacks that resulted into death.“There is also need for clear laws that determine how victims should be compensated, and how the pending cases will be tried to avoid incidences of wrongly releasing the suspects,” Dusingizemungu noted. He added that though Gacaca had ended, more efforts should be put in tracking down suspects, who he said are still at large, both in and outside the country.Dusingizemungu appealed to the government to also establish mechanisms that will continue to draw the public together to discuss about the past, to foster unity and reconciliation among Rwandans.Constantin Rukundo, the coordinator of the Student Genocide Survivors Association (AERG), wondered what will happen to victims who did not get court orders regarding their compensation.“We have many cases where victims were not given court orders. Now that Gacaca has closed, we are wondering how and who will address their issues,” said Rukundo, in a telephone interview.Dusingizemungu, however, said that though the government played a big part in the success of Gacaca, one shouldn’t downplay the role played by the survivors.“They welcomed it; they participated and they decided to take the path of unity and reconciliation. It wasn’t simple to face the person who killed your family and friends; standing with a person who left you parentless to the extent of forgiving them. Survivors are heroes in this case,” observed Dusingizemungu.According to Edouard Munyamariza, the Chairman of the Civil Society Platform, the government was supposed to have established a separate fund to compensate the victims.“There are some cases, where they could not trace the people who destroyed some of the property of the victims or the convicts who have no means to compensate the suspects. In this case, the government was supposed to set up a fund to cater for this,” said Munyamariza.He added that despite the achievements, there were few cases of reconciliation and forgiving the culprits, compared to the justice that was served.“Post-Gacaca should therefore, be a moment of reflecting on what was done, and what needs to be done to achieve the country’s vision of unity and reconciliation,” said Munyamariza.Dr Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, the Executive Secretary for the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC), said they will continue to support unity and reconciliation clubs and associations.“We established many clubs and associations, and this is something we will build on, while working with religious denominations and sensitising the public, to ensure that unity is achieved,” said Habyarimana.Athanase Rutabingwa, the President of the Kigali Bar Association, also acknowledged that the pending cases left behind by the semi-traditional courts is a challenge that needs to be effectively addressed.“Gacaca did not settle all the cases; they are now sending them to the ordinary courts; this is going to be another challenge to these courts. But we think they are going to be dealt with accordingly as well,” noted Rutabingwa.The establishment of Gacaca, he said, was vital, since there was no other option.“There are critics that these cases were not tried in a classical system, and that victims were not represented in court; this was the only option because we could not get enough lawyers, not even all lawyers on the African continent would have been enough,”Reacting on the issue of compensation, Rutabingwa said most of the convicts did not have financial means to pay back.“So this element of compensation is still hanging,” he noted, but added that despite the challenges, Gacaca left something behind that Rwandans should be proud of, especially in ensuring justice and unity and reconciliation, which could not have been possible, if they had decided to adopt the classical system.“In comparison with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where they have used the classical system and they have tried only 60 cases since 1996, Gacaca has done a credible job,” said Rutabingwa.Through participatory justice, where Rwandans were judging their fellow Rwandans at the community levels, it indicates that unity and reconciliation has been achieved, he noted.Gacaca was the only way of resolving the problem of the case backlog that was in the country after the genocide, where we could not apply classical system. There were no means at the time, no resources and no capacity, both financial and material, including human, to try all these cases. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Eugene Bayingana, an accountant at Hilltop HotelConsidering the number of perpetrators of 1994 genocide you would imagine it costing the government a lot of money and most of the culprits would not be tried. But the judges did a good job as a big number of cases were judged well.Alexis Bamage, a freelance journalist in KigaliGacaca still had a lot of other cases they have left unsettled; however, the legacy it has left is commendable because with other classical courts these cases wouldn’t have been handled even to five per cent. Sarah Bampiriye, a 40 year-old genocide survivor Muhima resident, in Nyarugenge DistrictFor as long as other pending cases will be settled by the conventional courts I don’t care, but if they will not be considered then it would hurt us. For instance I have long pending compensation case that has never been settled, so, what do I do next? My fate is still unclear.Mucole Gatarina, a 75 year-old survivor, Muhima residentGacaca contributed so much to the tracing of our deceased brothers and sisters’ bodies, because as a result the perpetrators would reveal where they had killed them from and with that I really acknowledge the Gacaca legacy. However, several other bodies are nowhere to be seen.Leonidas Kaberuka, 25 I think a big number of genocide cases were tried and the rest can be handled by classical courts. However, the government should embark on strengthening these classical courts to be able to try the rest of the remaining cases and other which may come in later. Chantal Nyiramanyana, the coordinator of Association of Vulnerable widows of the genocideGacaca should retain the Gacaca institution to continue imparting reconciliation and other cultural values. It should not be for genocide alone; I would rather establish it as a Rwandan life family that would be in charge of reconciliation unit. Gacaca helped Rwandans know the bad effects of killing one another. Erick Karambizi, Kigali Institute of Management (KIM)As Rwandans we should celebrate, this was our own idea without the involvement of the foreign initiatives and now we know there is nothing Africans cannot solve for themselves. And to me it was the best idea that has served well because it was very open to the communities where area residents participated in the process of trial.